Gundam: The dark era
by Rock-KOF
Summary: What happened in the wars before Heero Yuy took on Oz? The answer is here. I would like to point out that many characters in here are also in my sister's story, assasins. It's M...VERY GRAPHIC! NOT FOR KIDS, BUT PLZ R&R IF YOU CAN HANDLE IT! Inc.
1. Epilouge

This is my Gundam story. That means it's not yours or anybody elses. Not even Bandai's. Oh, yeah. I don't own Gundam.  
  
Gundam:  
  
The dark era:  
  
Epilogue  
  
AC 135:  
  
Three soldiers carried a stretcher with a body on it into a high-tech-armed-recce vehicle. One particular man was weeping. They laid the man to rest in the back vehicle. The solemn man stayed there while the other two went to the front to pilot the vehicle. Then and there, the man made a vow...  
  
That day, one mans fate changed the course of his family's history and another man lost his innocence forever...  
  
AC 180:  
  
One of the most infamous days in history: 1/15/80AC. A famous pacifists was assassinated: Henry Anderson. He was on his way to a space colony for a meeting in his private shuttle when it was attacked and destroyed by an unknown contingent of Leos. This was looked upon as a terrorist act, and the Alliance government demanded the terrorist be found and brought to justice. People marching in the streets demanded the same. By late that evening, war was declared on the Rebel forces...  
  
A war that would intertwine the fates of three young souls...  
  
  
  
AC 193:  
  
Over the sparkling sea water, the thumping of a chopper's engine could be heard. The morning sun shone brilliantly on the water. Or, at least, those were Taylor's thoughts. He heard a bugging noise from behind him the helicopter. He turned and saw Rapter continually pulling back the slide on his .50 magnum. Each time he did, a round fell out. He did this until there was only one left. Then he pointed it towards his head and pretended to blow his head off. He then looked down stupidly. The cockpit door opened. A man motioned for them to come in. They got up reluctantly. They went and gazed out of the window. Taylor leaned into the console.  
  
"Quite a view, isn't it?"  
  
Rapter nodded.  
  
"Quite."  
  
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The end of epilogue. Please review. 


	2. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 1

I will protect my Gundam story till the day I die. I fear Bandai will do the same.  
  
Gundam:  
  
The dark era:  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
Poor lost souls:  
  
It was quite a sight. Up near the shoreline, an entanglement of wrecked ships clung to each other. There were battleships, cruisers, missile boats, destroyers, just about anything you would expect out of a military fleet. The sailors who had sailed on these ships were floating face down in the water, being slowly eaten by sharks. The blood attracted sharks from miles away, and now had grown to a feeding frenzy. Up on the shore, dead soldiers, thousands of them, lay sprawled over each other like beached whales. There were smoldering machine gun nests further up shore and a wrecked reconnaissance stalled in the trenches. But even beyond that there was an even beyond that an even bigger sight was left to behold. For many miles beyond that you could not see any bear ground. That's because the ground was littered with bodies and mobile suites.  
  
"God, what happened in there?" Asked one of the rookie recruits, pushing up to the cockpit from the rear.  
  
"That is man in his most primitive form." Rapter answered. For no apparent reason, he had nervous tick. "That's man when all he knows is KILL! KILL! KILL!"  
  
"Christ..." Taylor swore under his breath. "I don't think I can look at this anymore..."  
  
"Get used to it." Rapter said, almost sounding annoyed. "You'll be seeing a lot more of it when we land."  
  
"Yes, I know..."  
  
"L-land?" Asked the now nervous rookie. "Y-you mean we're going in there?!"  
  
"Yes." Rapter answered. "Now I suggest you get your gear, we'll be landing soon."  
  
"Y-y-y-yessir!"  
  
Rapter tapped Doc.'s shoulder, who was standing with him and Taylor in the cockpit. "You better get your stuff too, Doc.. I want a medic with me, just in case."  
  
Doc. saluted Rapter. "Right, sir!"  
  
A few minutes later, they were on the ground. Rapter began to brief his comrades. He held up the pictures of two men. One was a young, blond, happy looking guy. He looked like a pretty carefree guy. The other was a red haired guy about the same age as the other, but his demeanor appeared to be very different from the other. He appeared cold, determined, even moody. It seemed as though he was the type of guy who always had some sort of problem he had to contemplate. Some burden he had to carry.  
  
"Remember these faces." Rapter told his comrades. "We're looking for them."  
  
"Do you seriously think they're alive?" Asked the rookie, pointing at all the slaughtered soldiers. "I mean, what are the chances they're still alive?"  
  
"These are VIP.'s, kid." Taylor scolded. "Besides, boy, you've got a lot of nerve questioning your superior officer. A good soldier is always supposed to follow orders WITHOUT QUESTION."  
  
"But what makes them so important?"  
  
"Aye!" Doc. answered, taking full advantage of his British accent. "Let's jus' say that you'd have to 'ave been there to know. Right, mate?"  
  
"What's the story?" Asked the rookie.  
  
"Long story." Said Rapter, drawing out his handgun. "Ask later. We're almost certain to find them together." They began their hike up a steep hill, but the only real reason it was steep was the dead bodies.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Another long story..." Answered Taylor, who was scrolling up the hill while cautiously pointing his minigun in a safe direction. "You know what? Don't ask about it. Keep your mind focused on the mission."  
  
They walked up the hill into a shack that looked like it might have been a building a few hours ago(If it hadn't been for all the explosions during the night.). A large, white, circular object that resembled an oversized telescope lay on the ground, long side up, diagonally. But there was someone underneath it. Doc. noticed.   
  
"Right! Everyone get outta' my way! We've got a survivor!" Doc. Rushed up to his patient. He got his medical kit ready. But, as it was already clear, his wounds were too serious. He would not survive.  
  
"What's his status?" Rapter inquired.  
  
"Right." Said Doc., having taken his analysis. "This is no good. He's got third degree burns on his whole right half of the body. Massive internal bleeding." He lifted the man's scalp, revealing his brains'. "Brain damage. You might want to ask your question's quick. I'd say he has less than a few minutes to live."  
  
"Alright." Said Rapter, rudely shoving Doc. out of his way while shoving the pictures of the two young men in the injured man's face. "Have you seen these two?" The man looked up and groaned. Rapter noticed the Rebel patch he wore. He coughed up light red blood. It was obvious he wasn't going to last much longer. "Have you seen them?" Rapter asked again, impatient. Apparently, the man's eyes had just focused in. He coughed up more light red blood in an attempt to laugh and pointed at the picture with the guy with the red hair. "So, have you seen him? Where is he?"  
  
The man tried in a futile effort to speak. He repeatedly opened his mouth, but instead of words coming out, it was thick, dark red blood instead, indicating now that he was now very close to death. With his last breath, he whispered"Bastard.", then died.  
  
Rapter stood up from his kneeling position. "Well..." He said. "...At least we know one of our comrades might still be alive. Come."  
  
"Wait a second." Corrected the rookie, tossing away a cigarette he had been smoking. "You mean one of your comrades." Rapter frowned.  
  
"No matter. Come." They left the destroyed shack and continued through the malodorous pile of bodies, the battlefield. But it wasn't just your average battlefield stink. It had rained during the heat of the of the battle, which meant the malodorous stench even more malodorous. The bodies were also in varying states of dismemberment and decay. The smell could easily make a person sick. As it was getting into noontime, the temperature began to rise. Rapter watched the sun beaming as if were proud sitting atop the thunder heads of last night's storm.  
  
The rookie was in the back of the line scribbling on a little, crinkled piece of paper. Taylor fell back to see what he was writing. "What'cha doin', Honey?" He said in an obvious attempt to mock him.  
  
"Shut up!" Rapter commanded them. "We're getting into a dangerous area and we need to stay alert!" Very quickly the layout of the land changed, and they did not need a second warning to heed his instruction's. A whole unit of leo mobile suites, it seemed had been taken down there. They lay there like toppled gods because of their immense size. Even on their back's or on their face's, they were still gargantuan statues. To fight one on the battlefield was to realize how puny and small human beings really were. You had never known pain until you had seen their bullet's mow down your closest friend's, blowing them to tiny pieces, and it was unlikely that you would ever find any of those. You never knew sorrow until you had seen one of them step on a few of your friend's, squashing them. The only thing you would find after that was a bloody jelly and some pieces of torn clothing. A battlefield afterwards was gruesome enough to make a grown man break down and weep. Rapter had seen it many times. Rapter had grown accustomed to seeing these kinds of things.   
  
They appeared to have entered a area with smaller hills than the previous area, but they were still there. This was probably used as a choke point for the leos during the battle the night before. The hill like points was the raised ground of 8-by-9 yard squares in the ground. Upon entering the first square, Rapter noticed stairs to his left that lead up to a small shack. It was the most complete structure they had seen so far... it seemed miraculously undamaged. Rapter motioned everybody to follow him with a little nod of his head toward the shack. He cautiously walked up the steps, with a little jerk of the head to the left or right on occasion. Any step he took could be followed by an ambush. When he was sure that there was nobody there to ambush him, he walked up to the door and tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. "Locked" he said, and he clicked his tongue. Then there was a loud crack and Rapter spun around. All he saw was a large plum of smoke. It seemed like a good idea to him to investigate. He put his finger's over his lips to signal his teammates to be quiet and pointed to the area where the explosion was set off. It was only a few blocks away. So they went to investigate. It was two blocks south and one block east that they encountered an obstacle. When they were a few feet away from the next block east, Rapter noticed an ultra-thin gleaming object between two poles. He could barely see it, but it was there. After a closer inspection, he found that it was wire. And that wire was rigged to explosives. Rapter swore under his breath. "Dammit."  
  
Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise and mechanical sounds. Rapter knew what it was. In the southern block adjacent to their's, a leo had risen up. It had just pretended to be destroyed!  
  
"Fuck!" He heard his rookie cry out frantically, grabbing the peace of paper attached to his belt. "We're screwed!"  
  
"And now for the FUN part!" Taylor said, raising his minigun toward the leo. "Aim for the yellow part, the eyes! If we can do that, we can knock it's sensor's offline and he won't be able to track us!"  
  
But Rapter knew it would be useless. The leo already had them in his sight's. Any moment now he could open fire and that would be the end of them, torn to pieces. It seemed the leo was about to fire. This is the end, he thought...  
  
Suddenly, the leo recoiled, and many explosions covered it's hull.  
  
"What's going on!?" Rapter said, in shock.  
  
After a few seconds, the explosions stopped, and the leo slumped down. Rapter was wondering how and why they were spared, but...  
  
The leo arouse again. "Damn!" The leo, seeming triumphant, leveled it's cannon back at Rapter and his comrades.  
  
"Well..." Said the Doc. "It was good knowin' ya', mates."  
  
Just then, a last, final explosion destroyed the cockpit.  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The leo's pilot was thrown out by the explosion. He was thrown so far that he fell behind them. They turned to watch him hit the ground, to make sure he was dead, and when they did, they saw someone else on the hill, holding an explosives detonator. And he was a guy from one of the photographs.  
  
"Fex! Fex! Is that you, Fex!?"  
  
It was definitely Fex, but it didn't look like the Fex that Rapter knew. He ran up and grabbed him by the shoulder's. "What the hell happened, man!? Tell me!"  
  
Fex spoke for the first time. "The calvary, I presume. You are a little late." His voice seemed a little more heavy, solemn.  
  
"Fex, quickly, have you seen-"  
  
"Forget about Howie." Fex interrupted. "We need to get out of here...now."  
  
They heard explosions in the distance.  
  
Fex had already started to make his way down to the beach. "You guys coming? I wouldn't suggest staying here."  
  
"I've only completed one-half of my objective here, Fex! My order's say to find both you and Howie and bring you back!"  
  
Fex stopped. He didn't turn around. "Well, I guess it all comes down to this...Which is more important...Your order's or your life." Then he continued towards the beach.  
  
Only one half of my orders complete? Rapter thought, wondering what his superiors would do to him. But then there was another explosion in the distance and this one sounded louder. In this moment, Rapter decided he would not lay down his life and the lives of others just to obey some orders. He followed Fex.  
  
A few minutes later, they were on the helicopter flying away from the battlefield. Fex sat in the back, a rather far distance from the others. A man from the front came back with some coffee.  
  
"Want some coffee, sir?"  
  
Fex gave him a look as though he was odd. "No thanks."  
  
Then he came up and offered it to Rapter and he gladly accepted. He then looked over at Fex, who was taking a swig out of his canteen. But the water was warm and foul-tasting, so he put the cap back on. He took out his handgun and started cleaning it. He was doing it very slow and methodically. This is definitely not the Fex I know, Rapter thought.  
  
"What happened to you?" Rapter blurted out.  
  
Fex looked up, looking almost disgusted. "You do not want to know."   
  
"What about Howie?"  
  
Fex came back with a question of his own. "Does it really matter?"  
  
"Yeah, it does!" Shouted the rookie, totally ignoring the levels of command.  
  
"Soldier, stay in line!" Rapter told him.  
  
"No, let the kid talk." Fex ordered Rapter. "What's your name, kid?"  
  
The rookie saluted him. "Ensign, second class. First name, Walker J.. Last name, Johnson.."  
  
"Okay. At ease." Walker finished his salute. "Was this your first mission?"  
  
"Yessir. How did you know that?"  
  
"Rookies always tremble a lot on their first mission." He looked him dead in the eye. "Always." He look over to Rapter. "So, I take it the J.T.M.S. bill passed, right?"  
  
Rapter nodded. "Wednesday."  
  
Fex leaned back on the bench. "If I were there, I wouldn't have let it been passed. Now, two members of the J.T.M.S. are K.I.A.(Killed in action), two of the others are M.I.A.(Missing in action), and I..." Fex sighed. "...am still here."  
  
"?What's all this?"Walker asked.   
  
"You seem rather uninformed." Said Fex, leaning even farther back into the bench. "All right, I'll tell you."  
  
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That's the end of chapter one. What happened in the battle? Who is Howie? What is the J.T.M.S.? If you keep reading, you will (eventually) find out. Review, please. 


	3. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 2

This is my Gundam story, not Bandai's. Just wanted to make sure we're clear on that. This ain't your story, either. So there.  
  
Gundam:  
  
The dark era:  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
The J.T.M.S.:  
  
Three years ago...  
  
AC 190:  
  
A young blonde general walked through the double doors to join the other generals massing in the room around the table.   
  
"You're late, general Treize." Said the old general at the end of the table.  
  
"I'm sorry, general Noventa." Treize said. "I just had to retrieve a few files."  
  
"It's perfectly alright." Noventa pointed to the chair nearest to him. "Please, sit down general Trieze." Trieze sat in the chair, just like he had asked him to. He laid his paper's out on the table in front of him. Then Noventa began to speak again. "Generals..." He said. "We've been gathered here today to discuss a proposition. The proposition in question was made by general Albert." The attention shifted to the dark haired man rotating a ring around his middle finger. "General Albert, is there something you wished to say?"  
  
General Albert, Trieze had noticed, was rotating the ring on his finger very carefully to make sure nobody saw what was on it. He placed his other hand on top of the hand with the ring on it and leaned into the table with his elbow's. A smug grin spread across his face, and although he was looking general Noventa, Trieze got the distinct impression that he was taunting him. "Yes, sir. Under the advice and guidance of a friend of mine, I wish to ask you to devote $700 billion dollars in military spending to create a new multi-purpose unit that would have access to the most state-of-the-art equipment available. My friend that I told you about will contribute $615 billion. I have the files that detail the training programs, the criteria for entering, and the exercises and missions they will carry out."  
  
Marshal Noventa extended his hand. "Let's see it, Albert."   
  
Albert handed him the files. In this moment, Albert and Triezes' eyes met briefly. Fiery hatred was the only thing between them. You must be proud, Trieze thought, of making yourself look so good in front of Marshal Noventa. But that feeling will be short-lived. Soon, they'll find out what you are. Show yourself, Nazi.  
  
By this time, Noventa had finished reading the first page and passed it to the next general. He then began to read the next page. "Why so expensive, Albert?"  
  
Albert cleared his throat. "Well, that is for the weaponry, supplies, and training. None of these items are cheap."  
  
"You plan to train them in the use of mobile suits, too?"  
  
"Yes. We plan to teach them everything. Our plan is to name it the unit J.T.M.S., or Joint. Tactical. Munitions. Squad.."  
  
"The training program is extremely demanding." Said the general nearest to Marshal Noventa, passing the first page and receiving the second.  
  
"Well, given the position they will be in, we can't allow just anyone to get in. That would be a tremendous breach in security."  
  
"Who will the first test unit include?" General Noventa asked.  
  
Albert nodded toward Trieze. "I believe general Trieze has that information, sir."  
  
"Yes, I do, sir. I have them right here."  
  
"Read them."  
  
"All right." General Trieze took his reading glasses out of his chest pocket and put them on. He began reading the names out loud.   
  
"'Rapter' J. Lynch, first in command over the training program. Now, he won't actually be part of the unit, but he will assist them and go with them on some of their operations. Second in command over the training is Taylor K. Seabrook, and again, will not be part of the unit. He will have the same contract towards the unit as Rapter. The man in charge of medical supplies and the distribution of such aid and supplies is simply referred to as 'Doc.'. He currently stationed in his home country, Britain. He's not really doing anything over there, so he would no problem helping with the unit. People say he's bored. Anyway, that matters little. The unit may use the doctor as they see fit. As for the unit, there will be two lieutenants, two sergeants, and one captain. The two lieutenants will be Cris and Lee MacMurray, two brothers. I have assurances that they would do quite well in the unit. The two sergeants will be Fex Anderson and Kat. Those two both live in a small town called Proctorville, Ohio. Supposedly, the only connection these two have is that they went to the same school..." Once he finished that, he took a deep sigh. There was a long silence. He was obviously stalling.  
  
"Well, come on." Marshal Noventa egged him on. "Who's the captain?"  
  
"His name is Howie..." Treize said very quickly.  
  
"And where is he right now?"  
  
Treize did not look directly at Noventa. "He's at the new Alcatraz."  
  
Noventa became confused. "Is he a janitor or something?"  
  
"An inmate."   
  
"I see..." Said General Noventa, letting out air as he spoke.   
  
A flurry of whispering broke out almost immediately amongst the generals. This perturbed General Treize. It appeared that General Albert felt the same way, as his eyes had become shifty. He felt like his insides were about to bust out. Suddenly, General Albert burst out of his seat and waved his hand's in the air. "Order! Order! I need order!"  
  
"General Albert! Compose yourself!" Scolded Marshal Noventa.  
  
"Forgive my outburst, Marshal. I would like to request a recess until tomorrow. I would like time to convene with my superiors to find out what is the best thing I should do."  
  
"Well, I don't know, I..." General Noventa looked at the generals on both sides. "General Treize, will a recess help you get yourself in proper order?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"All right. We convene here again in two days." Upon saying that, the generals filed out.  
  
Later, General Albert returned to his room. He felt oddly that he was not alone, and there was a foul smell coming from somewhere nearby.   
  
"So, I hear someone deliver their part correctly." Said a voice coming from his right as he put his coat away.  
  
"It was that damned Treize!" Albert picked up a bible and opened it. "I quote the book of Exodus 4;10,'And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord , I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.'." He closed the bible and looked at the man directly opposite of him in the bottom right corner of the room. He was cradling a glass of wine, or what looked like wine. "Those must have been his thoughts."  
  
"General Albert, what makes you think everybody else thinks the way you do?"  
  
"You believe in the bible, don't you."  
  
"Yes. Still, I don't think in bible terms like you do."  
  
"Oh."  
  
The man got up and drank some of his wine. "You needn't worry about a thing. I will take care of everything. I will take my leave of you now."  
  
The man left. General Albert then turned to admire a Nazi cross on his wall.  
  
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This is one step closer to solving the riddles. Who was the man in General Albert's room? What is he planning? Why did Howie get sent to Alcatraz? Keep reading, you'll find out! Oh! And don't forget to review! 


	4. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 3

This is my Gundam story, dammit! NOONE will take it from me! NOONE! MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Eh-he...  
  
Gundam:  
  
The dark era:  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
The deranged Howie:  
  
"Why is he in here?" Treize asked the warden of New Alcatraz as they made their way down the halls toward the cells. The warden looked through his paper's.  
  
"Well, he's one of our wilder ones. He's got quite a few capital murder charges on him. He's also accused of drug trafficking with his French drug syndicate buddies, whom are still on the run. He has purchased highly illegal weaponry, we don't know where he's kept it. One charge that has made him infamous is that he is a convicted rapist, a charge that has made him well known to other criminals. And he has some other charges that-dear god-I don't even want to mention, but he has charges all over the board, sir."  
  
"That's good enough. So, what's he like? As an inmate, I mean?"  
  
"He exhibits some strange behavior. He doesn't talk to anyone. He generally avoids people. Sometimes he'll write things and won't allow other people to look at it, even though that's not exactly the oddest thing a person can do. He mumbles a lot, and when he does talk to people, it's usually an angry or sarcastic tone he takes, and he lies a lot." They had reached the door to a prison cell. The warden turned to face Treize as a guard opened the door. "But the truth is that most of his odd behavior changes for day to day. Only God knows what he's up to today. Good luck." The warden left as the guard opened the cell door.   
  
Walking into the cell, one thing was immediately noticeable. There were prison cloths on the floor. Turning a short corner, they saw a naked, grim looking young man sitting at a small desk, scribbling on a piece of paper. Treize spoke.  
  
"Hello, Howie."  
  
Howie gave Treize a pissed-off look. "Tch!" Howie broke the pencil on his desk.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Asked Treize.  
  
Howie responded sarcastically. "I feel like a butterfly! I feel so happy I could...FLY!" Howie laughed. "I mean, who the fuck are you to just come in here? Here I am, just minding my own business, rotting in my own fucking hell-hole, and some dumb-ass waltzes in and asks 'How are you feeling?'. You must be one fruity fucker."  
  
"The warden let me in." Treize informed Howie.  
  
"Oh, the warden! Man, is he one fruity fuck!"  
  
"You've been offered a position in the military, Howie." Treize said. Nothing that he said seemed to get through to Howie.  
  
"What makes you think I give a rat's ass?!" Yelled Howie, finally raising his voice. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" He turned around in his chair and tried to ignore them. Treize didn't leave. He noticed Howie was wearing a bandanna.  
  
"That bandanna... that's the only thing you have on. Why is that? What is it for?"  
  
Speaking very quietly, Howie answered. "A scar that I got when I was young." His mood changed. "Didn't I tell you to get out?"  
  
Treize continued. "That may be one reason you wear it, but is there a symbolic reason?" Howie got up and flopped face-first onto his cell bed. "Is there an emotional scar somewhere?"  
  
"No." Said Howie quickly through his pillow.   
  
"Really? You say that, but do you really mean it?" There was a short pause in the talking. "Does the name Rose mean anything to you?"  
  
Howie's head snapped up immediately. Yes! It did! Rose did mean something to him! He knew that name! Rose was the girl that he spent many of the best moments in his life with...and his worst. Howie remembered. He was 5 years old when he ran away from home. He was taken in by a drug gang. Sounds odd, but the drug dealers were nice. Howie remembered thinking that they were trying to do the right thing, they were just doing it the wrong way. There he met Rose, 8 at the time. She was helping out with the gang nursery (Remember, this is FICTION!), and Howie liked her as soon as he met her. She was just a smart, pretty, brunet girl. Howie also met Peter, an 11 year-old heir of the gang. He was a black male who had dreadlocks and not afraid to express his opinion. He and Howie quickly became friends. So, as he grew older his relationships with Rose and Peter grew. When Howie turned 10, Peter was able to get him an heirloom quality handgun. A Colt .45 1911. It had a golden lion engraved into the handle, and the trigger was pure silver. About two or so years later, Howie and Rose discovered that there was love blooming between them. Howie and Rose started seeing movies together. When he was thirteen, Howie was able to return Peter's generosity by getting him a big game hunting rifle. Peter liked it so much that he punched Howie out, which Howie already knew in Peter's language meant 'Thank you'. Howie also impressed Rose by collecting the most rare roses in the world and giving them to her in a bouquet. He even recited a line from Romeo & Juliet. 'A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.' Misinterpreting the meaning, she punched him out, she realized soon that he didn't mean what she thought he meant and forgave him. When he was 15, he proposed to Rose(Remember, this is FRIKIN' FICTION!!! Just pretend they change the marriage laws.). She accepted and on a bright sunny July day, they were wed. Peter was his best man. Peter's father, the drug gang leader and priest, married them. They were very happy together, as Howie remembered, even though it was obvious Rose's younger sister, Dory, was jealous. Howie remembered their first night together...  
  
But it was too good to be true. About 1 year after they were married, they were taking a ride down the street and seemingly out of nowhere, people started shooting at their car. Whoever it was, they had missile launchers and automatic rifles and everything. Driving back to the gang hideout, Rose called Peter's dad on her cell-phone. They would lure their pursuers into an ambush. Somehow, they made it back to the hideout, even though their car was full of bullet holes. The gang members would wait for the onslaught of the enemy. Howie decided to fight alongside Peter and his father. When he told Rose to go inside, she picked up a rifle and made him accept the fact that she was going to fight alongside them. The only thing they could do was wait for their adversary...  
  
And their adversary came. They seemed rather surprised at the fight that Howie and his friend's put up. Both sides fought with ferocity and tenacity. Howie came up with the idea of shooting the telephone wire and burning several of their hidden enemies. At that point, it became a shootout of who could find the most clever way to take out their opponent.   
  
The shootout took no less than an hour-and-a-half to finish. Towards the end, the fighting became more intense. One enemy had the guts to charge them, with his bayonet pointing outward. He was charging Howie. Now, since he had snuck over to the right side, Howie didn't see him. But Rose did. In order to protect her husband, she flung herself in front of his attacker's blade, sacrificing herself(big-ass cliche, I know). Then she took her rifle's bayonet and jabbed it up through the bottom of his head, and Howie could remember it puncturing through the top of his head. Having lost most of her energy, she fell back into Howie's arms' and they both slumped to the ground in unison. Howie heard a cry from Peter and witnessed Peter's father receiving the blunt of a bayonet blade. Peter fired on the assailant, killing him. Then he went to cradle his dying father just like Howie was cradling his dying wife. The fighting was dying down now and the opposition was retreating. Now all they could do was start to count the dead. But it was strange. Peter and Howie had some many things in common. Now they had one more thing to share. They were both losing someone close to them...   
  
"That was when it started. My corruption, I mean." Said Howie, sitting in the warden's office, now fully dressed. "I had lost something precious to me, and I no longer cared about anything. I'm just a pitiful little bastard..."  
  
Treize tried to console Howie. "You can start a new life, you know."  
  
"What makes you think I want to? I'm not repenting for anything. There's no going back for me." Howie sighed. "I wish I was the one who had taken the blade."  
  
"Well, you didn't. And that's why you're here."  
  
"Do you know, Treize?" Asked Howie after a brief pause. "Do you know what it's like to hold someone you love in your arm's, and she's slipping away? You don't know my feeling's, Treize. If you did, you would have left me alone. I don't need to hear what you have to say and I don't want to. Why do I give a damn? What makes me so god-damn special? Actually, don't tell me, since I don't wanna' know. Leave me alone."  
  
Sighing, Treize stood up. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Howie. I'm afraid you don't have any say in this. You are important, but for reasons I can't divulge. You're coming, whether you like it or not. But, you're not leaving quite yet." Treize pointed to the heavy-set woman standing next to the table looking at papers. "Dr. Belle will 'recondition' you back to legal society. I will check back in a week or so to check in on your progress." Treize turned to the door. "Until then, good luck." Treize left. It was just Howie, Dr. Belle, and her two guard's.  
  
"Hey..." Said Howie with wry smile. "Wanna' get naked with me?" Dr. Belle scowled. "I am just the guy for a whore like you."  
  
Dr. Belle laughed. "Me? You? Don't fool yourself. I've done it with some low stuff, Howie. But you are the worst."  
  
"Same with me. Let's just degrade ourselves even farther. Ha!"  
  
"I would never degrade myself to your level."  
  
"Neither would I your's."  
  
"Stand up, scum!" Dr. Belle ordered Howie. Raising his hand's in surrender, Howie rose. Dr. Belle walked right up to Howie and inspected him from head to toe. Howie noticed a handgun wedged between her breast's. It was exactly the same as the one he had.  
  
"Nice guns." He commented. She frowned.  
  
"I would expect a serial rapist to notice that." She nodded to her guard's to come. When her guard's came, the last thing Howie could remember was a tingling feeling in his neck.  
  
The next thing he knew, he was standing naked, in an all white room, with his hand's and feet chained together. He saw Dr. Belle standing in front of him with her two guard's.  
  
"HHHHOOOOOOOO!" Whooped Howie. "You just couldn't wait to get me naked again, could you!?"  
  
"Shut up! This is only to demoralize you further! We plan to put your..."  
  
"Is my bandanna on?" Interrupted Howie. "Or, there it is!"  
  
"Stop your useless rambling this instant!" Snapped Dr. Belle.  
  
"Belle...Is it okay if I just call you Belle?" Howie was obviously trying to provoke her. "I think I'm hot for you. !!!LOOK! It's RISING! Belle look! I got horny, ma!"  
  
"Shut UP!" She looked into the guard's face and pointed toward the door. "Leave us." Obeying her command, they left. She redirected her attention to Howie, who was looking at himself and continually rambling. "Hey!" She shouted.   
  
"...hormones are the most wonderful thing!" Howie continued.  
  
"Stop it!" She drew her pistol and pointed it at Howie. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Howie finally looked up. He gave her the puppy dog look.  
  
"Oh...You wouldn't do that, Belle. You and I both know that."  
  
She drew closer as if to drive home her message. A grin spread across his face. She saw him move quickly, too fast for her to react, then she felt his elbow hit her ribcage. It was then that she knew she was in trouble. He spun around behind her, and before she could call for help, he had his chain's around her neck. She could hardly breath, let alone call for help. Howie dragged her down to the floor and used his feet to flip things out of her pocket's. She tried to pick up her gun since she had dropped it earlier, but Howie kicked it away. "Now, Belle..." Said Howie, whispering into her ear. "I want you to listen to me, very, very carefully."  
  
Outside, one of the guards was pacing back and forth. "What's taking her so long?"  
  
"Oh, come on!" Said the second guard. "If she had needed help, she would have let us know."  
  
The first guard looked at the door. "I don't trust that Howie."  
  
"I don't trust him either."  
  
"Can we check on them?"  
  
"Um...I think so. I don't think we'll get into any real trouble or anything."  
  
"Open the door, then." The guard in front of the door ran his card through the slot. The door made a mechanical noise then opened. They saw somebody lying on the floor naked, but it wasn't Howie, it was Dr. Belle. Howie wasn't in the room.  
  
"The alarm!" Shouted the shocked guard. "Somebody trigger the alarm!" His comrade ran down the hall and smacked the big red button. A loud alarm started blaring throughout Alcatraz. The halls were soon filled with shouting and footsteps. Several commandos came in with automatics drawn and started searching the cell. The guard was still trying to revive Dr. Belle. The guard pointed to the commanding officer.  
  
"Hey! You! Go brief the warden! We've got one wounded and one escapee!"  
  
"And the escapee's name?" Asked the commando.  
  
"Howie! Now get going!"  
  
The warden left his office and was shortly joined by his assistant's. "What's going on?" He asked. He was answered by his chief assistant.  
  
"We don't know. The only thing we know is there may be an escapee."  
  
"An escapee?! Noone has ever escaped from new Alcatraz before!" They saw the commando coming down the hall. "Thank god, some information." Said the warden. "What happened?"  
  
"Well, sir, someone has escaped."  
  
"Dammit! So it's true?!"  
  
"I'm afraid so, sir."  
  
"Who escaped?"  
  
"The escapee's name was Howie, sir." The warden had a nervous tick.  
  
"Howie! We can't let that crazy bastard to get back to normal civilization! There's no telling what he would do! Anything else?"  
  
"Yessir, there was one injury involved. Strangely, the victim was completely undressed when she was found."  
  
"Alright, I want a full search conducted of the surrounding waters and islands. I don't want this man to get within fifty miles of civilization. And get that general Treize back here."  
  
"All right, sir, we're on it." Said his assistant's. They went to work. The warden tapped the commando on the shoulder.  
  
"You just keep up the fine work, son. You hear?"  
  
"Yessir."  
  
Later, on a nearby island, a man was wobbling onto shore. It was Howie. He had Dr. Belle's cloths' with him, but he was using them for different reasons other than wearing them(of course, you'll have to forgive that obvious statement.), so he was still naked. He had also Dr. Belle's gun in his possessetion, just in case he needed it. When he got to ankle deep water, he stood fully erect and surveyed his surrounding's. There was about ten feet of sand between him and the tree line and the forest beyond that, filled with thick and tall trees. It was getting dark fast. He would have to build a fire. He went into the woods and gathered up some leaves and twigs. He got one large size twig to start the fire with. When he had collected enough, he went back to shore and put them in a pile. He then went to collect seashells for the firepit. And when he had collected enough of those, he went back and made his firepit, made his fire, and went to sleep.  
  
He had a dream. He saw a familiar girl fighting in a battle. He saw a plane explode on a runway. Finally, he came to an image where he saw a lion pouncing upon a man with a shotgun. Then he heard a voice. And the voice belonged to Rose.   
  
"Do not worry..." She said. "It will all work out in the end." Then, he felt her hand's on his shoulder's. He felt so happy that he could feel her, or was it just that he was going crazy? Her arm's started to encircle his neck. He thought he could feel her body coming against his back. He wished he could remain in this blissful state forever. However...  
  
In reality, somebody else had grabbed him by the neck. Howie had just woken up as two big strong arms yanked him up to his feet.   
  
"Hello, bub." He heard a very masculine voice right behind his ear say. He heard the laughter of about 5 other men behind him. Howie didn't know who these men were, but they were about to get an ass-kicking for waking him up from the blissful state he was in. Only one problem. How to do it? Howie noticed he had left the gun behind him when he was sleeping in case he needed it. And when his assailant had grabbed him, he had pulled him up and back, which would put the gun on the ground in front of him if they hadn't noticed it. He checked. They hadn't noticed it. The gun was still laying right where he had put it. Howie developed a smug smile.  
  
"It's time for an ass-kicking."   
  
"Well, I would say you're in no position to do that, bub."  
  
"You guys don't know me..." He said. "I'm Howie."  
  
When he said that, there was a collective gasp.  
  
He flipped his gun up into the air with his foot. While it was in the air, Howie caught it. He pointed it backward, into the attacker's knee. He pulled the trigger and a gunshot exploded through the air.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Howie's repressor cried out in pain. He tried to hobble on one foot, but it made him turn, causing Howie to go with him(Since his grip was so tight). Howie now had clear shot at his other attackers. Now was his shot. Before he had been pulled all the way around by his repressor, he fired 5 shots into one of each of their leg's. He counted by the blood squirts in their leg's. They each fell to the ground.  
  
"Kill him, boss!" One of them cried. "Kill that bastard!" From his belt, their boss ripped a machete. He held it up to Howie's neck.   
  
"Time to die, Bub."   
  
I think not, Howie thought. He pointed his gun back into the repressor's lower right part of his stomach. He fired and the man fell. He turned and for the first time saw his enemy.  
  
"Don't kill me! Please!" He said, shielding his eye's.  
  
"Pirates, eh? Don't bother stealing anything from me. I've got nothing of value..." He pointed his gun at their boss. "...but you do have some things I need. Stand!" The boss stood up. Howie noticed a bottle of beer in the man's suspender's. He took it without asking. "Now, your cloth's...QUICKLY!!!" The pirate boss did not need a second warning. He took off his suspender's and his white, sleeveless shirt and gave them to Howie. Now he was ready to take off.  
  
"Will you please let us go now?" He asked with a nervous anxiety. A wide grin spread across Howie's face and he shook his head. "What are you going to do?"  
  
Howie pointed his gun at him.  
  
"Please! No!" He put his hands in front of his head again. "Don't kill me!"  
  
Howie pulled the trigger.  
  
There was a clicking noise. The pirate boss looked up. The gun was empty. Howie lowered his gun.  
  
"You may go now." Howie said calmly. They hobbled off as fast as they could, although that wasn't very fast. Howie watched them as they slowly disappeared down the beach. Howie noticed that one of them had dropped a pistol. He picked it up and checked it. It was 10 mm with a ten round magazine. He would have to ration it.  
  
Howie sat awake, looking at the flame. He was drinking the beer he had stolen, but he still hadn't put on the cloths. He didn't want to go to sleep, thinking they might come back. However, at the rate he was going, being drunk might be as bad as being asleep. He didn't care. He was just thinking about Rose, about the dream.  
  
"What did that mean?" He said aloud. There was no trace of intoxifacation in his voice.  
  
What were those images? I've seen that girl before somewhere...I just can't remember where... Why did I see that plane exploding on the runway? And why do I care? And that lion... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?! I vaguely remember that guy though... It feels like I know him somehow... Then...  
  
"Rose... God, I miss her..." Howie ran his finger's through his hair and took a long swig out of the beer bottle.  
  
That was the one part of the dream I liked. Rose... I could feel her again... It was...? Hard to describe. As much as I loved it, it was only temporary.  
  
He began to have a nervous breakdown. "GOD! WHY'D SHE HAVE TO DIE?! HOW COME THERE'S NO FUCKIN' ANSWER FOR ME?! GOD, WHY?!" He wanted to get drunk. He tipped the bottom up, but there was no more left. "FUCK!" He threw the bottle into the fire. It broke and burned.  
  
A few hours passed. To pass off the boredom without thinking of anything he didn't want to think of, he began humming songs. On the forth or fifth song he heard a cracking noise, but he just dismissed it as the fire. He continued humming. A little bit after this, he heard another noise, and this time, it was unmistakable. It was the sound of feet crunching sand. Quietly, he readied his new pistol. Whoever or whatever it was, it was right behind him. He had to be quick. He made the move. He jumped up and turned around. But it was too late. He was hit before he could find out what it was. He went out cold.  
  
He woke up. He knew he was not on the island anymore. He was back in Alcatraz.  
  
"Frankly, Howie, I don't know how you did it." He heard a voice say. He sat up. It was General Treize again, pacing back and forth in front of him. "Escape from Alcatraz. Now that's one for the headlines."  
  
"I bet you want to know how I escaped, don't you?"  
  
Treize shrugged. "Yes, I would like to know that. Take it one step at a time. First, how come your escape was not recorded on that video camera up there?" He said, pointing at the camera.   
  
"Easy." Then Howie did something strange. He reached into his own mouth and from underneath his tongue, he pulled the top half of a broken pencil. "This little gizmo was extremely useful."  
  
As he should have, Treize thought that this was odd. "But that's just a pencil."  
  
"Oh, contraire. This no mere pencil. It has a small device in it that deactivates all electronic devices within nine yards. That also prevented me from triggering the silent alarm when I slipped through the bars in the window. I activated it when I broke it on the table this morning."  
  
"All right. How did you survive the fall? That was a 50 foot drop from that cell window."  
  
Howie lifted his left leg. "Can you say break a leg?" Treize noticed the cloth around his knee. "The trick is to land on your feet. You break a leg, shift it back into place, then use something to keep it in place."  
  
"That's why you took Dr. Belle's..."  
  
"Yeah. I was planning to use her cloth's for other things, but then you guys showed up and rudely interrupted my plan's."  
  
"Right. How did you get past the yard? There are mines out there. And the sniper towers. How did you get past them? Then there's the barbed-wire-fence."  
  
"I took care of two of those with one trick. I dug underground. Dog instincts helped. You know, such as using your feet to cover up the hole...except from inside it. I continued to dig and crawl until I reached air and fell into the water. For the land-mines it's a matter of knowing how to deactivate them." Howie held up the pencil again. "Again, this came in handy."  
  
"Last thing. How did you avoid getting eaten?"  
  
"What?! You mean by the sharks?!" Howie laughed. "No, no, no. You don't understand. As far as odds go, it's next to impossible to avoid getting eaten. It's just how you get eaten. Avoiding the teeth is the hard part. After that, you just have to sit tight and go with the flow. And after you're done with that journey..." Howie laughed methodically. "Well, let's just say they don't even want to touch you after that."  
  
General Treize made a nervous laugh. "So, anything else?"  
  
"No, that's just about it."  
  
"All right. Now, Howie, as you can see, everything you acquired is over there." He pointed to the table. Everything was neatly arranged. "You can choose what you want to take with you when you go to the training camp."  
  
"So I really do have no choice, do I?" Asked Howie. Treize shook his head.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not. People need you. I have approved this with the chief overseer of the Alliance government, Marshal Noventa."  
  
"...All right." Howie stood up and started picking out items. He picked up the handgun he had acquired from the pirates. "I don't need this. This can go." He handed it to Treize, who in turn handed it to a guard outside. The next thing Howie did was look at the boss pirate's cloths'. "I'll take these with me."  
  
"All right." Howie noticed the handgun he had stolen from Dr. Belle. Howie pointed to it.  
  
"Can I keep this? I have another one at home that is just like it." Treize looked at it a long time, thinking.  
  
"I'll have to talk to Dr. Belle. She has asked that she could keep you for-quote-un-quote- 'a special occasion'."  
  
"Oh boy, I wonder what she has planned."  
  
"Yes. I'm sure she'll be willing to compromise."  
  
Later, Howie and Dr. Belle were in a slightly familiar situation...  
  
"Alright..." Started Dr. Belle, flexing her finger's. "Treize informs me you want my gun. You're going to have to earn it, Howie. The receptors attached to your body simulate a...how should I put it?...lightning strike."  
  
"Oh, MAN! I know I'm gonna' like this already!" Said Howie sarcastically.  
  
"Oh, it gets better! You see the remote in my hand? The dial on it has four settings on it...25...50...75...100...Can you guess what those numbers mean, Howie?"  
  
"How many orgasms you'll have doing this?"  
  
"Wrong! The numbers indicate how many lightning bolts you'll feel! Now..." She began talking with a sort of giddiness. "Shall we have some fun?" She turned the dial up to 25.  
  
Immense pain ran through Howie's body. Somehow, a thought struck him...  
  
...This is gonna be FUN!!!  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
This was a chapter that introduced one of the major characters, Howie. In your review, tell me your thought's one him. How did he come across to you? 


	5. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 4

I don't really care much for doing this so I'll just come out and say it. Gundam belongs to Bandai. I own this particular spinoff. So there... That wasn't too hard.

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 4:

The recruits:

"Damn it, Lee! That's mine!"

The argument that had broken out between Chris and his older brother Lee disrupted Fex's peaceful state of being. He stopped staring at the fields long enough to turn around and see what was the matter. Lee had snapped away one of Chris's CDs' and was taunting him with it. He was keeping it just out of Chris's reach. Soon Fex grew bored of watching them bicker and argue. His gaze began to wander. Looking around the arguing brothers he saw Kat, a girl he vaguely remembered going to middle school with, sitting on the bench in front of the hanger. She didn't look very happy. She just sat there reading with her long red hair coming down both sides of her head. She wasn't doing anything, so Fex decided to leave her alone. Fex looked past Chris and Lee, into the hanger. He looked into the sub-room to the right. There were three men conversing at the table. One with brown hair, one with blond hair... and one that strangely looked like Fex. They were almost identical, really. The only difference that set them apart was that Fex had blond hair and the guy in the hanger had black hair. Besides that, the resemblance was eerie. In the sub-room to the left, a red-haired guy with a bandanna was talking with general Treize...

"These are for you, Howie." Said Treize, handing him a mysterious box.

"Who is this from?" Asked Howie.

"I'm not at liberty to tell you that Howie. Besides, that's not all. Come." Treize led him to the next room.

They passed out of Fex's sight.

"You're Fex Anderson, aren't you?" He heard a voice say to him. It was Kat.

"Yeah."

"Remember me?" She asked. She looked happier than before. "Proctorville middle school?"

"Kat? Yes, I remember you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Fex Anderson?" Interrupted Lee. He had given Chris's CD back. "Aren't you the son of that pacifist dude who got incinerated about a decade ago?"

"Yeah, that would be me..." Fex responded.

"Then why are you being recruited into the military?"

"I don't know, but..." He made his hand into a fist. "Listen, there's something a lot of people don't know about my father..."

"Hello, everyone!" Called Treize. He was being followed by the red haired guy. Kat became moody again. "I believe you all have acquainted yourselves. Now meet your captain, Howie."

All at once, they said "Hello.". He could only come up with one response.

"Tch!"

Treize laughed nervously. "Well, um... It looks like you will all get along fine, um... Good luck!" Then he took off in a jeep.

"I've heard of him." Lee whispered sidelong to Fex. "He's an infamous criminal, well know and liked in gang world. It's rumored that it's next to impossible to go to a large city and not find at least one girl that he has raped."

Chris joined in. "I heard he escaped from new Alcatraz."

"You're shittin' me."

"No, I'm not."

Fex looked around Chris and Lee to take a peek at their captain. He had red hair and seemed slightly older than Fex. He was wearing beat up suspenders and a sleeveless white t-shirt. He also wore a long bandanna around his head just below the hairline. It was probably long enough to reach the ground if the wind wasn't making it flap around in the air. He had a hole in his suspender's and a hole in his t-shirt, and around those holes, there was what appeared to be long dried blood. The hole in his shirt revealed he was in good shape. He also had two .45s holstered in the front part of his suspender's. He was looking up and appeared to be thinking hard.

"Come on, girl..." Lee elbowed Kat. "Don't deny it. You're checking him out." Kat quickly denied it.

"No! I'm not! I wouldn't go for a sick bastard like him!"

"Come on, girl..." Lee repeated. "You want him to be your boy toy. You want to strap him to a bed, naked, and..."

Suddenly, Kat kicked him in the face and sent him flying a few feet away. He landed on his face and she walked over and stood on his back.

"Say one more word and I'll RIP YOUR FUCKING TESTICLES OUT!"

Chris raised his eyebrow's high and elbowed Fex. "Now that's my kind of girl." He said, lighting a cigarette. "If Lee ever stole one of my CD's, I could sic her on him and he would give it back before she ripped his testicles off."

"Having fun out here?" Asked voice behind them. It sounded like Fex's voice. They turned to greet the man behind the voice. It was the man Fex remembered looked like him, except for his black hair, and his two comrades. He extended his hand. Fex shook his hand. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rapter. I am in charge of the J.T.M.S. and the training you will receive." He pointed to his blonde friend. "This is Taylor. He is second in command only to me. If I were to die or if my presence was needed elsewhere, he is who you would go to for your order's." He pointed to the brown haired one. "This is Doc.. He'll be your doctor, in case you haven't figured that out yet. He'll help you if you get hurt. He'll also perform autopsies for you." The breeze be became more violent. Rapter looked up. "Ah. It appears our ride has arrived." Their helicopter was descending down to land in the field. After making contact with the ground, the helicopter opened it's cargo door.

"Let's go, lad's!" Doc. yelled over the sound of the propellers. "Our destiny awaits!" They entered the helicopter and it closed the cargo door and took off.

Shortly after the flight started, and after some brief small talk among it's occupant's, Rapter began pacing back and forth and instructing them on what they should do after they reached camp.

"Okay! Upon arrival at the Joint. Tactical. Munitions. Squad. boot camp, which should be 2000 hours, you will proceed to the weapon armory. There you will choose one sidearm and a holster to carry with you at all times. From there, proceed to the barracks. There are places for you to freshen up in there. Get a good night's sleep. In the morning, You'll be instructed in the effective use of firearms. This will last about 5 days. Then you will how to drive tanks and other military vehicles, such as the C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. That's another 5 day course. Then you will take the flight course, and last but certainly not the least, the mobile suite course. All of those are 5 day courses. But... my personal favorite is the 'special' course. That one will take a while. You will repeat this pattern over the next few months. Then after you have completed your training, you will be transferred to General Treize's base in northern Spain. Any question's?"

Silence from the recruits.

"I'll take that as a no. Fine, socialize until we get to the camp." Rapter sat down.

Fex took notice of what everyone was doing. Rapter was in another discussion with Doc. and Taylor. Kat was trying to get some sleep. Chris and Lee were having a conversation. It went something along the lines of "Do you remember the time we caught all those fish?". His gaze went into the corner. There was the captain, Howie, and his unusually large bag of possession's. Howie felt he was staring at him and pierced him with his gaze. Right from the moment they locked eyes, Fex knew he was not looking at just any old person. Fex even feared for his life looking at the guy. Nevertheless, he was determined to find out more about him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. That jolted Fex out of his sleep. He woke up to discover he had drooled all over himself. He looked up to find out who had his shoulder in a death grip. It was Taylor.

"Wake up, kid." He said. "We're there."

Fex turned around on the bench and looked through the tiny window in the side of the helicopter. Down below he could see two buildings and the landing pad. One of the buildings about forty feet tall and about eighty feet long. It looked like a bunch of hotel rooms. The other building was short and didn't cover much area, either. It kind of looked like a large shack. There was a single light between the short and tall buildings, but it projected a lot of light. On the helipad, Fex could see the people waving them down. They were pretty close to the window, so Fex realized that they were pretty close to landing...

The helicopter came down with a big "Whomp!". The whole aircraft shuddered. The cargo bay opened.

"Welcome to the J.T.M.S. boot camp." Said Rapter, not sounding very welcoming. "I trust all of you will be killing machines by the time you leave this camp."

The recruits filed out.

A guy in front of the large shack was waving for them. "HEEEEEEEEY!" he called. "OVER HERE!"

"Oh, man. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us." Joked Lee sarcastically. They quickly ran over to see what the man had to say.

"You are going to love this," said the man, looking through his keys to find the exact one that matched the door. "This is where we keep all our weapons and ammunition. We've also got some other things in here, too. Look around and see what you like best." He unlocked the door.

It was dark in the room at first. All they could make out was a bunch of shelves with undistinguishable objects on them. But then the man flipped the light switch on. On the shelves, there were hundreds of weapons and holsters.

"Well..." Said the man, walking between the shelves. "...it's all here. You've got your full pick of whatever you want to take with you throughout your campaigns. You'll be issued standard equipment for your missions, but here you equip yourself with any weapon you see here. They tend to be handguns...revolvers...light sub-machine guns..."

"...Sawed-off shotguns." Chris said. Then when everybody turned to look at him, he was holding up a shotgun in his hand. "Found what I want already."

"Good choice. The rest of you guys take your time..." He pulled around behind a store-like glass display, full of handguns. "There's no need to rush."

Howie was standing in the dark corner next to the door. Fex pointed at him.

"What about him? What's he doing just standing there?"

"Already armed." He said casually, pointing to the two .45's that he had holstered in the front of his suspender's.

"Okay."

Rapter and Taylor came in at that moment.

"Hey, Max! Did you get those special orders in yet?"

Max was in almost in a giddy state. "Yes! Yes! Yes! We just got your weapon's in yesterday!"

"Let's see 'em."

Max went into the room behind his counter. When he emerged, he was carrying a handgun and a minigun. He handed the handgun to Rapter.

"Here you go. You'll like that, it's one of the most powerful handguns on the market." Then he propped the minigun up onto the counter. "This is yours, Taylor. It took 'em a while to get this one, but they got it. We don't get a whole lot of portable miniguns around here. This one has four barrels, it also has a selector on it for rate of fire, so you can switch between 2,600 rpm (rounds per minute) or 4,100 rpm. The gun is loaded with 750 round cans through the back...here. When you are out of ammunition, discard the empty can and slam a new one in there. You'll know it's loaded when you hear a clicking sound. There's a laser sight underneath the barrels here, which should make it easier to aim. Your trigger and handle are located next to the loading mechanism, to the right. Mounted next to the barrels on the left is the foregrip. There's an arm hook here at the bottom of the gun, below the loading mechanism to the left." Max tilted the hook up. "You put your arm in this thing to make the gun more controllable when you fire it. Try it, why don't ya'?"

Taylor slide the arm hook over his left shoulder and grabbed hold of the rear grip with his right hand and the fore grip with his left. Then he struck a combat pose.

"It's so light." Taylor commented.

"Yes. The thing itself is made out of a new type of alloy found on the moon. That gun weighs about eighteen pounds, which is a lot lighter than other miniguns. You should have no problem carrying that around a battlefield fully combat loaded. The results should be worth it, too. And there's more..." He went back into the small storage room. He came out carrying a package marked 'Caution! Explosives!'

"They also sent a few extra things with it, it seems..." Said Max, looking down at the box. "A few tools and parts, a pump action rocket launcher, God knows why that's in there, and what appears to be...napalm jelly."

"Well..." Said Rapter, holstering his new pistol. "Thank you for getting these for us, Max."

"The pleasure is mine. Tell me if you figure out what those parts are for."

"We will." Rapter and Taylor left.

Meanwhile, the others had been busy looking at sidearms. They had come up with their pick's. Lee was first.

"Hey, this is a automatic pistol, isn't it?" He asked. Max had to take a good look at it.

"Well, let me see...Yes, it is. That's a Glock model 18."

"All right, I'll take this, then."

"Okay." Max typed something in on his computer. "I've marked that one off. Go to the quarters."

Fex was next.

"All right, let me see...The Beretta 92." He marked that one off in his computer. "Next!"

Kat showed him her gun.

"Good. Good. The FN 'Five Seven'..."He marked off. Then he marked off Chris's Maussburg pump and everyone but him left.

The door opened. Chris and Lee both gasped.

"This is..._our _barracks?"

The whole thing looked like a five-star hotel. It had nice, neatly arranged tables and the room smelled nice. There was a television, a phone, and nice beds. It even had two ceiling fans. It wasn't what you would expect out of military rooms.

They all put their backpack's next to their corresponding beds. Then they unpacked some of their thing's and put them in the closet. Then they had to take showers. There were two, so, naturally, only two could go at once. Kat and Chris went first.

Fex was once again observing his surrounding's. To his left, Lee was sitting on his bed flipping through channels on the television.

"Damn! All they have on here are government channels!" Lee said, waving the remote up and down. He flopped back over his bed. "I'm bored..."

Fex moved on. In front of his bed were the two separate bathrooms. He could see steam coming underneath both doors. Then he turned his head a little more to the right and he saw Howie sitting in his dark corner. It was so dark in that corner that he could not see Howie's eyes'. Fex noticed the extremely long bandanna he wore. The back end would reach the ground if he stood up. However, his cloth's weren't very well taken care of. It looked like it had been shot up. Through the hole in his shirt, he could see Howie's very fit body. Howie was examining one of his two .45's. On the grip of the .45, Fex could see some sort of symbol, even though he could not make out what it was.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Rapter and Taylor were working on their own guns. Rapter said something odd.

"So... that guy... he's the son of..." Then he just stopped.

"What guy?" Taylor asked.

Rapter just waved his hand. "Nah. Forget about it."

Howie had his eyes closed, but he could tell there was someone on the bed behind him. He heard a voice behind him.

"Howie..." He knew who the voice belonged to. It was Rose. He felt behind him. He felt her long, slender, smooth body.

"I thought I had lost you..."

"No...You'll never lose me, Howie. Never..." Howie didn't know why, but he felt odd about that. "Let me see your face, Honey."

He turned over on his other side. He had a wide grin on his face. He slowly opened his eyes. And as they opened, the grin disappeared and was replaced by horror. Rose's face had been busted in and her brain's were oozing out, covered by maggots.

"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!"

Howie flung himself out of bed. His head hit the table and he heard a loud cracking noise, not from the table, but from himself. He hit the floor hard.

The other four lights in the room came on almost instantly.

"What the hell was that?"

"What was that noise?"

He heard footsteps outside. Then he heard someone kick the door open.

"WHAT IN HOLY FUCK WAS THAT?" He heard Rapter yell at the top of his lung's. Despite his being mad, Howie felt somewhat relieved.

"Whoa. You okay, man?"

Howie looked up. It was Lee. Howie nodded. Lee left. Then he went and told Rapter.

Howie then noticed that he was drenched in sweat and that big drops of blood were coming from his forehead. But they weren't coming from any kind of cut...

They were coming from underneath his bandanna...

Fex went to check up on him. When he got to the corner, he saw Howie holding his hand over his forehead.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing you should be worried about." Howie answered in a grouchy tone of voice. Fex took a closer look at Howie. He was panting and sweating heavily. His eyes were wild, crazy eyes, but Fex could tell there some other sort of emotion behind those eyes, wanting to seep out. He had no idea what made the guy tick. His motivation's were a mystery to him. He knew nothing of what he wanted.

"What are you doing?" Howie asked him. Fex just shook his head.

Later that morning, the new recruits were out on the shooting range.

Rapter began drilling his new recruit's.

"All right, you asses. This may or may not be your first experience with a firearm. The difference here though is that you are in the military now. Make sure you are at least familiar with our weaponry. I'm gonna' give you some time to practice." Rapter pointed downrange. "The closest target is for handgun and shotgun practice. The next target is for machine gun shooting, about a hundred yards. The next two targets are for assault rifle training, 200 and 300 yards. And the range beyond that is for hitting targets with the sniper rifle. If you want..." Rapter moved so he could get a clearer view of what he was pointing at. "...There's a target on that hill over there. It's about 800 yards. If you think you can hit it, take a shot at it. Now, any questions?"

Chris raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. MacMurray. What is it?"

Grinning mischievously, Chris shoved a cigarette into plain sight and said "Can we sacrifice someone? Make 'em high and send 'em downrange?"

Taylor pointed an invisible gun at him. He pretended to fire it. "Jack off, stupid motherfucker."

Chris just flipped him off and lit a cigarette. This was enough for Rapter.

"Enough. I've had enough of you dumbasses. Get your asses in gear and fucking do what you are fucking told. Get to work, all of ya'."

They finally, reluctantly, got to work practicing with their new gun's.

Two hours pass...

Fex was lying on the cold concrete. Did I pass out? Fex really had no idea what had happened to him because he was completely stoned and drunk. All he could remember was after Rapter and Taylor left, and they had started practicing, some general from the alliance had come and started a little party. He had beer and whiskey and all kinds of stuff. Cigarettes, big Joints, Reefer. None of these mixed with firearms, and that was very obvious. Fex could barely see Lee firing a machine gun, not very well, either. Through an intoxicated sound barrier, he could hear gunfire close-by. It was Howie...and he was shooting **both **of his .45's at the same time **accurately! **No small feat...especially with someone who was drunk. He saw Chris wobbling around with a bottle of Scotch, but he couldn't see Kat...

Kat felt sick. Not only because of the alcohol, but also because a man had just used and abused her. When everybody else was stone drunk, the guy who had made them drunk took a plastic bag and pulled it hard over Kat's head so she could not breath. Then he dragged her into his truck and drove to the trailer she was in now. And now she was lying on the bed, completely naked, staring up at the ceiling. She was mad, and she was going to do something about it. She looked at the desk next to the bed. The man was not only dumb enough to bring her gun with them, leave it loaded, but he was also dumb enough to leave it on the desk next to the bed. She rolled off the bed onto the floor. Her entire body ached from the times when he had hit her. She reached up and grabbed her pistol from the desk. She got up and slowly wobbled into the kitchen. She could hear opera playing from the kitchen. She came upon the sorry sight of a naked man dancing in the kitchen. He was obviously still highly intoxicated. Kat raised her gun and turned the safety off. He felt her presence behind him. He turned around and looked at her like a dumb drunk. "Heey-eesh..."

Kat aimed low and deprived him of his testicles. He looked down with a shocked look and then looked back up at Kat, confused. Kat fired again, and the bullet hit the man in the forehead. The bullet came back out the back of his head, and along with that, his brain's emptied out, too. She would not have to shoot him again.

She located her cloth's on the table and put them on. The keys to the man's truck were on the table. She took them. She noticed the lit candles on the counter. She took one and dropped it into his garbage, setting it ablaze. Then she got out and got in the truck while the fire spread around the kitchen. And as she drove off, the entire trailer was engulfed inflame.

One week later...

Vehicular training...

Howie emerged from the shower. He wrapped his towel around his waist. He heard the others chatting in the room. As he opened the door, he saw Chris and Lee conversing next to the doorway. Then he saw Fex talking to someone on the phone. From the tone of his voice, it sounded like he was talking to one of his younger sister's. And on the other side of the room, sitting on her bed, was Kat. She had turned of her light, adding to the dark cloud in the corner of the room. She was resting her arms on her knees, creating a cradle for her head. Howie decided to talk to her.

"Hello, Kat." She looked up just enough to catch a glimpse of him. She growled.

"Hello..." She spoke reluctantly. "One thing I want to get out the way, before we have a full fledged conversation...I hate you."

"Fine." He responded. "Just let it be known that the feeling is not mutual."

"I don't care, okay. I don't fucking care, you get it? Stop talking to me. I fucking hate you. Go suck yourself."

"Hateful, aren't you? Why do you hate me so much?"

"Why do you care?"

Howie made a mocking-type gasp. "I know why you hate me. You hate me because..."

They heard a horn outside. The vehicle training session was about to begin.

A few minutes later they were sitting in front of a large armored vehicle with a big gun turret on top.

"This is what you are going to be taking out today." Began Rapter. "This is the C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. It's an armored transport vehicle for our troops. One pilot, one systems operator, one gunner, and twenty-four troops can fit there. There are 8 stretchers stored in the back. There are mechanical doors on both sides. The vehicle is propelled by the treads underneath it, similar to a tank's. The only difference is the treads are directly underneath the vehicle so noone can hide underneath it. Any mechanical maintenance is done inside the vehicle. The gun turret houses two 20 mm guns with 280 rounds each. Each gun cycling rate of 80 rounds per minute, which is terribly slow, but each of the 20 mm rounds are extraordinarily powerful, making up for any other defects the gun may have. People have been known to take down leos with these things, if you know where to hit them. Now that you know a little bit about the C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R., here's the drill. You guys are going to take turns driving the C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. around a mock urban battlefield to see how she handles. This afternoon we're taking you down to the range so you can experiment with the 20 mm guns. On Wednesday, we're going to introduce you to our main tanks.

Mr. Anderson, you're the first to drive, so climb on in and get in the driver's seat. Everybody else get in behind him and watch him."

Fex noticed inside the tank it uncomfortably narrow, a really tight squeeze for twenty-four soldiers and equipment. The gun turret also looked like it would be quite tight for the gunner. He slid into the driver seat and put on the seatbelt, which was obscenely tight considering Fex was certainly not fat. The front window was just a rectangular slit with bullet glass in it. The pedals and the wheel were also insanely small. Rapter slid in the next to him.

"I'll handle the systems." Is all he said.

"Why is everything in here so damned small?" Asked Howie, half chuckling.

"It's 'so damned small' because that's the way it's fucking built." Answered Taylor.

"Hey, don't bite my head off, for Christ's sake."

"Be quite back there. Let sergeant Anderson concentrate." All eyes shifted back to Fex. "Well...we're waiting, sergeant."

Fex knew little about driving. When his father was still alive, people would drive him places. But that age was over for him now. Fex wasn't a kid anymore, and he planned to become an adult in the military. He was going to become an adult...

He punched the accelerator.

One week later...

Flight training...

Three CAH-16 helicopters crept down the valley while one FB-25 circled overhead. Howie and Taylor were in the lead chopper, Fex and Kat were in the left wingman position, and Chris and Lee were in the right wingman position. Rapter radioed in from his FB-25.

"Okay. Beyond the next turn is the target range. Gunners, concentrate and make sure to hit your target's. Pilots, keep your birds straight and steady, make sure your gunner's get a good shot at their target's."

They all replied."Roger."

They made the turn...

And just as soon as they had made it, a cacophony of cannons being fired, missiles being launched, and things exploding everywhere erupted. And from somebody's radio blared Tchaikovsky's "Overture 1812". The flames from the ground painted the halos' fuselages an eerie orange. Rapter was laughing at them from his plane above...

The halo group exited the valley. Rapter was still laughing. Howie lashed out.

"What the fuck are you laughing at!"

"Look what you guys did!"

They looked back to survey the damage they did. They hadn't hit a single thing. Lee voiced his outrage.

"We missed every single fucking target! We didn't hit a fucking thing even though we emptied almost every single fucking round we had!"

"Well, I told you to concentrate, didn't I? We'll work on this, but for right now, let's head back to base. Next time, you might actually want to listen to my fucking instruction's."

They turned around and headed back to the airfield.

One week later...

Mobile suite training...

The leo mobile suites were going up the elevator. Rapter, in his custom-built leo, started telling the group how to control their machine's.

"The leo mobile suites you are in now are new models. They've been equipped with a new, state-of-the-art system that makes them incredibly easy to control. This is called the 'X' system." They reached the top.

"Good. Now I'll switch your systems on and we'll see what you can do."

The lights and systems came on. And it felt weird for the newbies. It felt like they were out of their bodies, and that their bodies were now the mobile suites.

"As you can probably feel..." Explained Rapter. "Your bodies feel at one with your machines'. This is because of the 'X' system. In order to operate the system, you need only to think of an action and take it."

That gave Lee an idea. "You mean..." Lee's mobile suite gave a jerking motion and then brought it's rifle down on Chris's leo.

"OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Lee just laughed.

"HAHA HA! SO IT WORKS!"

"WHY, YOU...!" Taylor got between them.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Although that wasn't a good example to start, Fex caught on.

"I see..." He said, thinking of an action. When he had thought of one, his leo thrust forward and fired a burst with his rifle. He printed excellent results on the target at the edge of the hanger. And it had been so easy.

"Look at that reaction speed. Excellent." Howie commented.

"Wow." Was the only thing Kat could say. Then Taylor said something odd.

"It's not nearly as good as Zero-system." For some reason, Rapter became furious when he said that.

"FUCK IT ALL, TAYLOR! THE CONTROL ROOM...NOW!"

Rapter and Taylor met in the control room a few minutes later where they could still watch the mobile suites. Rapter was still furious.

"What the fuck were you thinking when you said that, Taylor? Were you even thinking at all? What the fuck?" Taylor just stood there, ashamed. "Next time, think, major. That's what your fucking brain is for."

"Well, sir... What I said out there was true..."

"The fuck it is! But that doesn't mean you have to tell the trainees that! They haven't even been on the field yet! Do I need to remind you that, MAJOR?"

"...No, sir. You don't."

"Good." He calmed down and watched the trainees practice. He lit a large cigar.

"Speaking of the Zero-system..." Taylor began, cautiously. "...A Blood-Curler ship set sail off the coast of France, recently."

Rapter took a huge puff out his cigar. "For whom?"

"Us, apparently. That's what General Treize told me."

"You spoke with Treize?"

"Yeah. He couldn't tell me exactly what they are doing, but they'll be docking in Spain soon after we arrive."

Rapter's face lit up with disgust. "Oh, god. You mean I'll have to speak to the Blood-Curlers? Tch! Those guys are overrated."

"No argument here."

"The type of warfare they conduct always has been and always will be obsolete. There's no room for the Blood-Curlers in this war..." There was a short silence.

"So..." Asked Taylor. "Are you ready for the 'special' training next week?"

"...Riveted." Rapter answered, still smoking his cigar.

One week later...

"Special" training...

The first day of training, the "Special" training is what they called it. It would not be group work, it was one person at a time. Rapter and Taylor came early in the morning and picked Howie to go first. Fex and the others would not see him for a while.

This gave everyone time to think, time to speculate. They hadn't been told what would go on during the "Special" training. But mostly they speculated about Howie. Why was he important enough to bring out of Alcatraz? They thought they would never know the answer. Howie himself was a big mystery, a maze of unanswerable questions. Everything he did was calculated and had meaning. There was a story about everything, to his bandanna to his cloth's to his pair of .45's. Something was not quite right about him...

During the night, Fex had strange sexual fantasies involving Kat. This was odd for Fex because his life had been censored for a while, and sexual thoughts were uncommon for him. Fex decided to get Chris and Lee's opinion. They weren't surprised.

"Man, if there is anybody who doesn't fantasize about her, I would be surprised." Chris answered.

"Damn straight." Lee seconded. "Maybe this is good for you, Fex. Sexual intercourse is an aerobic activity. It'll help you get in shape for the missions ahead."

"I never said I was having sex with her. I never said I was necessarily going to have sex with her. I just said I was having fantasies about it."

Lee shrugged. "Well...yeah, I guess that could work out, too. But you have to admit that thisidea is better."

"What idea?" Asked Kat, emerging from the shower.

"Er...Um...Nothing."

Space was cold. There was a single ship cruising through it. A silent ship. A peaceful ship...

Suddenly...

"**BOOM! BOOM!**"

Two leos had ambushed the ship. Their cannon's began to rip the ship apart.

"**BOOM! BOOM!**"

The leo pilots did not care about the inhabitants of the ship. Lives meant nothing to them. Nothing. Not even little children...

Parents woke up to the cries of their little children. They could do nothing to save them...

Nothing...

Finally, the doomed ship accepted her fate. She imploded, leaving nothing left but scrap metal.

In their cockpit's, the leo pilots were actually cheering...

Fex woke up. It had just been a dream. But a very convincing dream. And he was sure he knew what it was about, too. That was his father's ship ten years ago. He remembered the images on tv. His father's peace corp breaking down quickly. The little funds it had left annexed. Having to live not exactly in poverty, but definitely not rich like they used to be. Having to care for not only himself, but for his two younger sister's, Diz and Mena. All this at six years old.

Fex got up and washed his face. He then noticed in the reflection that Kat was up also, sitting on her bed.

"What are you doing up?" She asked in a quiet and somber voice.

"...Nothing." He muttered into the sink.

"Nothing? Is that right?" She laughed. Fex did not respond. "How many years were we in school together?" This seemed like a perfectly random and useless question to Fex, but he answered it anyway.

"Four." He said as he walked toward his bed and sat on it. "Four horrible years. I couldn't stand you. I hated it when you talked to the football players. You would say," In his best little airhead voice. "EW! I don't like that stupid, blonde, Anderson kid! I hate the way he _stares_ at me! EW! Don't let him _touch _me! EW! EW!" He ended his impression. Kat laughed again.

"You know, I actually remember that. You were a little runt back then. But...you've changed. You've gotten bigger, Fex."

Fex noticed something. They weren't facing each other. They weren't talking face to face. Fex decided to change that. He went over and sat on Howie's empty bed, facing Kat. He grabbed her hand's and held them. Then he looked her in the face.

"Let's get out of here." He said. Kat shook her head.

"No. You don't understand the balance, Fex."

Fex released her hand's. She laid back on her bed and continued to explain.

"The lucky ones die in battle. And the survivors fade out in insanity or despair. No matter what happens, everybody loses. That's just the way it goes. As long as war exists, this cycle will go on."

"But maybe we can end it!"

"End what?"

"End war! End this cycle of death and despair!"

Kat gave him emotionless look. Fex hated it.

"We can't end it..." The she shut her eyes and slept. Fex was speechless and couldn't move from that spot for the rest of the night.

The next day, Howie walked in, seemingly exhausted. He didn't say anything about the training. Rapter and Taylor took Kat for the 'Special' training that week. And the next week it was Chris, and the week after that it was Lee, until finally it was Fex's turn.

"It's time for you to take the training, Fex." Rapter said as an exhausted Lee crashed onto his bed.

As they were driving, Fex asked them. "Hey, what's this training going to be like?"

Neither Rapter or Taylor answered him. They just kept on driving. They arrived at the docks soon afterwards. Odd. What kind of training could they do at sea?

They boarded a boat. There were all sorts of weird things in the boat, scary looking things. Why did they have things?

It was foggy out over the green water. It was probably going to storm, too. Nevertheless, Rapter kept on referring to the conditions as "ideal", adding that "it would bring out the full effect of the training". Fex was getting extremely nervous.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rapter stopped the boat.

"Go up on deck." He motioned to Fex, then he issued an odd order. "Take your shirt off."

Fex, reluctantly, did as he said. On the deck, Fex noticed a buoy so close to the boat that you could easily touch it. It had metal rod through the top of it, making a cross shape. Attached to this rod on each end were big metal clamps. There were similar clamps near the bottom of the buoy, too. Suddenly, Fex figured it all out.

Rapter, Taylor, and several assistants grabbed him. He struggled to get out of their grasp. He was yelling, screaming.

"ARE YOU GUYS FUCKING CRAZY?"

Fex struggling forced one of the assistants overboard, but he quickly recuperated and got back on the boat. No matter how much Fex tried, he couldn't get out of it. Eventually, he succumbed to his fate. He was forced on to the buoy and was strapped in.

The sensation of being on that buoy was terrible. He couldn't change position. He was in the exact same position as Jesus at the crucifiction. Not being in control was awful. He felt like the buoy would submerge any second. The rocking sensation made him sick to his stomach. Rapter had parked the boat just a couple yards away to watch him. Fex constantly muttered insults.

"Fucking vultures..."

The storm hit overnight. The rocking sensation became ten times worse in the turbulent waters. Fex was surprised he didn't sink.

The next day was more of the same, but worse. About noon, Fex noticed that Rapter and his assistants were doing something on deck. He was _trying _to sleep, so he was drowsy and couldn't see exactly what they were doing.

But he found out.

There was a crack and pain shot down Fex's arm. They had shot him. Bright red plasma spray out of his arm. Fex lashed out, but because of the position he was in, he sounded like an angry drunk.

"You fucking coxsuckers! When all this is done, I'm gonna' rip out your fucking intestine's and stomp on them!"

That didn't phase them.

Now, his blood would be dripping out of him...Sure to attract sharks. A pleasant thought.

And those sharks came in droves.

Fex woke up a day later, being dragged back on the boat.

"Is it over?" He asked, half unconscious. They took him below deck.

They threw him down on the floor and started beating the crap out of him.

"What the hell?" Fex protested, disoriented.

"What were you talking to Kat about the other night?" Rapter asked.

"What?" That question disoriented Fex even further. Partially because he had no idea why he would know about that conversation, partially because he wouldn't know why he would want such information. Fex knew what he had to do. He had to resist.

"We were talking about screwing."

Rapter kicked his face into the floor. "YOU ARE FUCKING LYING!"

From there on, the real punishment began. Rapter and his assistant's constantly beat him for hours without tiring. Taylor stood in the corner, watching.

Fex didn't give in, though. Through the hours he watched his face go from relatively undamaged to completely bloody. His entire body was filled with pain. His nose was clearly broken. But they just kept doling it out.

Sun was rising. Rapter broke a baseball bat over Fex's head. Now he was just lying there. Blood covered the floor. A knife was flung into the floor right in front of Fex's face. This got his attention. Rapter grabbed Fex's hair and made him look at him.

"If you do not tell me what went on in that conversation, I will cut you open, Anderson."

This was too much. Finally, Fex gave in and said "All right, I'll tell you.".

3 days later...

"PATHETIC!" Rapter yelled at his recruits. "YOU ALL ARE PATHETIC! THE ONLY ONE OF YOU THAT PASSED THE SPECIAL COURSE WAS HOWIE!"

Of course. Mister perfect, Fex thought.

"For your information..." Rapter continued. "WE WILL KEEP ON TAKING THESE COURSES OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL EVERY ONE OF YOU PASSES!"

And they did so for another several months.

Whew! Thought that one would never end! Review!


	6. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 5

Wow! I haven't done a disclaimer in a really long time! I'm so EXCITED!... I'm such a dick head. But anyway, Gundam Wing is not mine. Gundam the Dark Era is mine. Fair? Done?

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 5:

Deceiving first taste:

Fex and the others were quite in the chopper. They didn't say anything about the training. Rapter came in from the cockpit. He caught Howie smoking.

"Howie, put that out!" Rapter commanded. Howie removed the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it onto Rapter's boot. Rapter, directing his attention to Taylor, motioned to Howie with a cock of the head. Taylor, wearing iron knuckles, slugged him hard across the face. It drew blood. Taylor backed off. Rapter added "Thank you, Howie.".

"Sure. Don't fucking mention it."

Max was flying ahead of the chopper in a fighter plane. Up ahead he could see the contrails of other fighter planes. Conducting drills, maybe?

Treize was known for working the butts off of his men. But then Max saw an explosion and knew something was going down. He latched his mask on and dialed in the helicopter's frequency.

"Hello? Come in, Rapter. Over."

Rapter frowned and looked into the cockpit. That couldn't be good, he thought. He hesitantly went back into the cockpit and turned on the communicator. "What's the problem, Max?"

"Um, Rapter, there are about 20-30 alliance fighter planes engaging 20-30 rebel fighter planes. I want permission to join the fur ball."

Rapter hesitated. Then he said "Do you want to? I can't guarantee your safety."

"Yes, sir. I want to do this."

"Alright, do one thing for me."

"Yes, sir."

"Call general Treize and make sure he knows you're doing this. We're so damned close, we wouldn't want to get blown away by our own guys."

"Yes, sir."

"Make sure you let him we're here, too."

"Yes."

"Oh, and one more thing, Max."

"Yeah?"

Rapter smirked. "If you see a plane with Blood-Curler markings on it, blow it out of the sky. Even if it's on our side."

"Yes, sir."

Rapter turned off the communicator.

Rapter hated the Blood-Curlers...

Doc was stitching up Howie. Rapter came back out, shaking his head.

"I just sent Max into combat..."

"Rapter!" This time it was the pilot.

This was going to be even worse.

Taylor and Rapter were in the cockpit the next second. They saw an attack force, probably closing in on Treize's base. There was about a hundred infantrymen, a column consisting of two tanks, four C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R.s, and one command vehicle. And the biggest deal, the three leos. The gunner noticed the obvious.

"Damn it! They're headed straight for Treize!"

"Pilot!" Rapter commanded. "Keep her steady and circle around! We're going to engage!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Howie! Gather your team! Time to test out your leader skills!"

Howie took charge.

"Fex! Take the mini gun to port! Kat! You take the starboard gun! Chris and Lee! Bring out extra drums in case they have to reload! It's time to rock!"

Max was weaving his craft left and right in pursuit of a rebel fighter. He was trying to get a missile locked on. But he was having a hard time getting the diamond in the middle of the square.

"Come on, stupid fucker." Max muttered. "Make a mistake..."

One second later, he made that mistake. The square lined up with the diamond, turning all indicators red. A circle appeared under the square-diamond fusion and a low tone rang.

"Fox 2!" Max called out. He pushed the button on the back of the joystick. A missile streaked off one of his port wing pylon's and toward the target. The missile made contact with the target and exploded in a ball of orange flame. The indicators disappeared.

"YEE-HAW!"

The routine classical music started playing. Fex cocked the gun. They were on their first run. Fex lined up the sights on the infantry. He squeezed the trigger and let it ride.

Up front, the gunner focused his sight's on the tank column and the leos. The cannon boomed and caused the whole chopper to shake. He rippled missiles into the column and the leos. As a result, he hit one of the tanks, causing it to explode. Smoke billowed outward, almost shrouding the ground troops, in disarray from Fex and Kat's Gatling gun fire. After a few more passes, the ground troops were completely hidden from view because the gunner had destroyed the other tank, the four C.A.T.E.R.P.L.L.E.R.s, and one leo.

"Hey!" Fex called, frustrated. "I can't see what I'm aiming at!"

"Just shoot in the general area that they were in!" Howie answered. "Your sure to hit something that way!"

It was chaos on the ground. It was hard to see anything because of the thick smoke. Trying to find one particular soldier would be hard. And that's exactly what The General was doing.

The sound of the chopper's rotor indicated it was coming in for another pass. The General's men went nuts. The General himself stood still. The helicopter's cannon made itself known. It was so loud that it dwarfed even the sound of the mini guns. The only thing louder were the explosions from the missiles. When those noises stopped, it signaled a short break in the action until the chopper came in for another pass. It was time for The General to look for his man.

"Blue! Blue!" He called. No answer. He walked blindly through the smoke.

"Blue!"

"Black!"

There was his man.

"Blue! Where are you?" He continued walking. He could see two figures walking towards him. One of them helping the other. But he couldn't make them out until they got close. Blue was being helped by a medic. He was severely injured. His stomach had been blown open and his rib's were sticking out. Even more, he was carrying what was left of his right leg.

"What happened to him, medic?"

"Strafed by those damned mini guns! He's lucky to be alive! He appears to be..."

Blue interrupted them. He sounded like a drunk. "Don't be stupid! There's absolutely nothing wrong with me!" Then his head slumped over. The back of his head had been struck and a lot of his brain's were gone. It was clear he wasn't going to make it.

"Carry on, soldier." The General stood there for a second, contemplating what this would mean for him. As he stood there, the helicopter came in for another pass. From where he stood, he could see the cannon's path. It took out several more of his men in one tightly packed group. Body parts and flesh flew past him. Now The General had to find another man.

"Virgil!"

"Here, Black!" He felt a hand on his shoulder behind him. He turned to face Virgil.

"Virgil, the Blue Ghost is dead. I'm sure you know what this means."

"Yes, Black. I'll pack his stuff and send it to _him_."

"Good. Get to work then." Virgil ran off into the smoke.

The General shuffled around in his pocket's. Where's my hat? Oh, there it is. He took his hat out and put it on. Seeing their commanding officer walking around still dignified would give the troops a boost in morale. He continued to walk, briskly, calmly. The chopper was coming in for another pass. The General's men ran past him, panicking. This time during the pass there was an even larger explosion. The helicopter had taken out a second leo. Damn them, The General thought. The leo made a lot of noise fighting to stay up, but then there was a loud crash as it crumpled down. But The General kept walking.

"General!" One soldier called. There was gunfire a few yards off. "This guy has gone crazy! What should we do?"

The General held out his hand, silencing him. He approached the source of the gunfire.

He glimpsed a psychopath gunning down anybody that got near him.

"COME ON, YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!" He screamed, psychotically.

"YOU CALLED THEM IN, DIDN'T YOU? YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!"

The General couldn't let this continue. He unholstered his revolver and took aim. He popped a round into the crazed man's head. The man's lifeless body sprawled over backwards.

"I'm sorry." He said post-mortemly to the man. Then he reached for his radio.

He called for his force's to retreat.

In the helicopter, they were all celebrating. Rapter smirked.

"Not too bad." He said to himself. The communicator flashed.

"J.T.M.S. trainees, this is general Treize. Is everybody alright?"

Wow! That one was fast! Review! Who is 'The General' besides a rebel general? What's all this about a 'Blue Ghost'? And who are the 'Blood-Curlers'? Keep reading!


	7. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 6

Read my lips. Gundam Wing is not mine. Gundam the Dark Era is. How's that for political quotation?

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 6:

Risky business:

A few days later...

Howie slung his pack over his shoulder and got off the helicopter. There were fighters landing on the runway. He looked to the right then up at the control tower. General Treize was standing in his commanding position in the center of the room. They acknowledged each other with traditionary head nod.

A jeep pulled up in front of Howie.

"Need a ride?" The driver asked.

Howie nodded. "I could use one." Then he hopped in. Another plane landed on the runway. Howie noticed the tools in the back of the jeep, meaning this guy was probably an aviation mechanic. "Flying C.A.P.s(combat air patrol)?"

"Yeah. They got one, too."

"Got one what?"

"Transport. On their way back. Took some fighters with 'em, too."

"Well, that's good."

The mechanic parked on the end of the runway.

"Well, Max's plane got hit. He said he's having problems with his aircraft. I'm gonna check his plane out after he lands. He said..."

Somebody with a loud voice shouted "Hey! Grease Monkey!". He was trying to the mechanic's attention. Howie slipped out of the jeep.

There was one guy who was bandaged up, smoking a cigarette. He was being accompanied by the loud mouth guy, who had a rifle slung over his shoulder.

"What is it?" The mechanic asked.

"Sorry, I don't mean to bother you, but can you take of this guy for a while?" Said the loudmouth guy, pointing at the bandaged guy.

The mechanic was annoyed. "Why don't you do it?"

"He's becoming a nuisance. It's pain in the ass to have to babysit him wherever I go."

"You know what?" The bandaged man said. "Fuck you. I ought to burn you with my cigarette."

"You can't, you moron." The loudmouth guy countered back, pointing at his bandaged face. "You are blind as a bat!"

"I'm not blind! I just can't see through these fucking bandages!"

"Maybe I should take them off for you..." The guy with the rifle pulled out a knife. Howie got between them.

"Uh, I think we should end the conversation right there."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry, I'll take him. Get him in the jeep, Max's plane is taxiing in now. I need to go check it out."

Howie helped the bandaged man into the back of the jeep. The mechanic took off toward the plane. Howie stood at the end of the runway with the other guy and watched.

The mechanic looked over to discover that the bandaged man was still smoking. He grabbed the man's cigarette and tossed it aside.

"Don't smoke. We're getting close to the plane. It could be dangerous to have a lit cigarette around it."

They came to a stop under the plane's left wing. The mechanic's assistants were already there, checking the plane. The plane was riddled with bullet holes. From the looks of it, the dogfight must have gotten pretty hairy. He climbed up to the cockpit. He banged on the glass to get Max's attention. Max looked up and gave him a thumbs up, though he seemed clearly rattled.

"What's wrong with this plane?" The mechanic asked his assistants.

"Well..." Answered the chief assistant. "The hydraulics were shot all to hell in the dogfight. The landing gear are clearly fucked up, it's amazing he was able to put this bird down. But, the big thing is that his cockpit door is jammed. He can't get out."

"Can't find anything else wrong?"

"Can't find anything else wrong."

"All right. We need to get him out of there."

The chief assistant smelled the air.

"Sir? Do you smell something?"

The mechanic sniffed. He did smell something. It may still be dangerous. He looked over toward the jeep.

The bandaged guy was lighting another cigarette.

"NO!"

Down at the end of the runway, Howie and the rifle toting, loudmouth guy watched the bandaged guy toss away a cigarette.

"BOOOOOOOOOM!"

The plane exploded in a huge ball of orange flame. The shockwave practically leveled the two. A piece of the plane, still aflame, skidded down the runway toward them. The man with the rifle had to jump to avoid it. It was the plane's cockpit door. He stood there, gaping at it.

Howie shoved the guy.

"You fucking idiot. You couldn't babysit that guy for two minutes. Now, 10 or more men are dead now. Just think. That pilot died scared and cut off..."

"Stop it..."

"FUCK UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! DO YOU HAVE SHIT FOR BRAIN'S? YOU STAY HERE AND THINK ABOUT IT!" Howie shoved the guy to the ground. "DO PUSH UPS! YOU THINK YOU ARE THE CENTER OF THE WHOLE FUCKING UNIVERSE, DON'T YOU? AFTER EVERY PUSH UP, I WANT YOU TO SAY 'I am a dick head. I love my penis.'. NOW DO IT!"

He gave him the push up. "I am a dick head. I love my penis."

"Good. Now you keep on doing those until I come back. AND DON'T YOU DARE FORGET WHAT HAPPENED HERE TODAY!"

Howie left as the fire trucks came in.

Fex was standing near the end of the hall, watching soldiers coming out from breakfast. Then he saw Howie coming down the hall, clearly upset in some way.

"Hey, Howie, what was that explosion?"

"Don't worry about it." He answered coldly. "It's being taken care of." Howie took a position next to Fex on the wall. "I feel like we're going to have an assignment today."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know. It's just a gut feeling. And, unfortunately, my gut feeling is usually right." There were loud voices just around the corner in the mess hall. Howie, who had his eye's closed, opened his eyes and stepped away from the wall. "And my gut feeling is we're going to have a nasty confrontation here in a second."

A noisy group of bald soldiers entered the hall. They were obviously trouble. The tall one at the head of the group turned toward Fex and Howie. He noticed the J.T.M.S. initials stitched into their uniform's. He made a face approximating at a grin. He didn't know what Howie's gut feeling was telling him, but he knew what his was telling him...

...Don't say a damn thing.

The man spoke. You could almost imagine, from the sound of his voice, the guy saying 'I eat pussy!'

"So, these are the first members of the J.T.M.S.? I have been waiting for this moment."

Fex didn't say anything, he just kept giving him the same cold stare. When the tall bald man understood he wasn't getting an answer from Fex, he looked over at Howie.

"The famous Howie..." He extended his hand. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

Howie looked down at the extended hand with disdain. "I'm sorry." He said, looking up. The bald man withdrew his hand. "I don't sign autographs for Blood Curlers."

Then it made sense to Fex. He looked at their uniform's and noticed the B.C. initials stitched into their shoulder patch's.

"I see. That's fine. Do what you want." He started to lead his group away. Then he turned and said. "See you on the battlefield. We may not meet as friends..."

Fex watched them as they left. When they were out the door, Fex asked Howie "Those guys were Blood Curlers?".

"Yes."

"I've only heard rumors about them. I don't know anything about them."

"I wouldn't worry about that now. Come on, let's go."

Howie opened the door to the J.T.M.S. barracks.

"Daddy's home." He called.

"Hello, daddy." A voice answered from one of the bunks. It sounded like Chris. Kat was lying on her bunk to the right, looking totally pissed as usual.

"Bloody fucking morons!" Doc. cried from another bunk. "Why do you waste your bloody life smoking?" Fex and Howie came across the bunk to see Doc. looking at his various medical pictures. He was currently looking at a picture of black lungs. Lee was leaning against the wall, smoking. "Can't you see what happens to your lungs? You bloody fools!"

Lee removed the cigarette from his mouth and inhaled deeply. "Quit the dork shit, Doc.."

"I'm only trying to help, ya' bloody wank."

"Well, if we wanted your help, don't you think we would've asked for it?"

"You're not going to ask for the help you _really _need."

"Shut up..." Lee flicked his cigarette into the Doc.'s lap.

"OH! AH!" The Doc. bounced the cigarette around and finally got rid of it. "Don't do that! See? Those bloody cigarettes have fried your bloody brain!"

"You wouldn't know until you've tried it. So shut up, ya' stupid fucking Brit."

"Fex Anderson." Rapter's voice called from the corner bunk. Fex entered into Rapter's quarters.

"Hi, there."

Rapter was just sitting there, arms folded, eyes closed, in the chair.

"'Out of Zion shall come forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, nation shall not raise sword against nation, and they shall not learn war anymore, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.'"

"Excuse me, sir?"

Rapter didn't answer.

"Sir?"

"..."

"Rapter, what are the Blood Curlers?"

Rapter opened his eyes, but they were staring into space.

"The Blood Curlers..." Rapter started in a very matter of fact tone. "... are a group of mercenaries that _intentionally_ drive their own soldiers insane. Though not much is known about their training methods, it is known that their pre-battle rituals include slitting their own wrists, taking the blood and pouring it over their heads to drive them into a blood frenzy. When they are hired by somebody, the way they split the money is whoever made the most gruesome kills would make the most money. That's that. Their style of warfare is obsolete, but there's no doubt that they have a considerable psychological effect on the battlefield."

"Hm... Thanks for the info."

Just then, the loud speaker came on. General Treize's voice was on the other end.

"Rapter and Taylor. I need you two in my office now."

Rapter stood up. "Well, gotta go. I figure that's going to be our first assignment. You might want to get some rest."

"Sure. I'll do that."

When Rapter and Taylor left, Fex went to his bunk and fell asleep.

At 1000 hours, they got their mission briefing in the J.T.M.S. briefing room. Rapter stood at the head of the room in front of several screens.

"People, this is it. This is what we have been training for. Now, as all of you should already know, our planes have been flying C.A.P.'s almost nonstop since that attack the day we arrived here. This morning, one fight of those planes intercepted and shoot down a Rebel transport. The contents of the transport plane survived and landed on..." Taylor turned one of the screens and put a satellite picture on it. Rapter pointed at the photo. "...this hill right here. Mr. Anderson, what is it that you see in this photograph?"

Fex took a long look at the photo. "It looks like a mobile suit to me."

"That's what it looks like to me, too. It appears to be a experimental mobile suit. But no matter what it is, the rebels want it back. Our job today is to help make sure they don't get it back." Taylor turned on the large screen in the back. It displayed a battle map. "Now, Chris and Lee, you two are going to guard this hill...here. You are going to be in your leos. There is going to be one other leo with you. His handle is Dog man. Helicopters will airlift a special cannon to you so you can better protect the hill. Don't give up this flank until your are relieved. Chris, your leo is being outfitted with a sniper rifle, Lee, yours is getting a standard leo rifle. It's not going to hit anything in the valley we're expecting the attack to come from, but it will work well if they get close. And you will also be tasked with reloading the cannon. We'll be dropping an ammo pack in with the cannon. Dog man's job is to fire that cannon. Each belt the cannon takes is thirty rounds. So every thirty rounds you gotta reload that cannon, Lee. Dog man is packing the most heat at long range, but he is packing the least short range heat. All he has is the beam saber, shoulder cannons, and leo pistol. We've got the same thing going on the hill to the right. Howie and Taylor, you two are going there in your leos. Now, Fex, we haven't gotten your leo yet, so you're going to be flying with the Mosquito squadron, protecting Fly squadron, who are the ones that will be retrieving the wreckage. Don't let anybody shoot down any one of those helicopters or the mission will fail. And finally, Kat and I will head two separate squads of ground troops to be dropped in the fields in between the two hills...here. Our task is to capture a two story building at the base of the hill here. The building is currently under the enemies control, and it is said that they have surface-to-air missiles there. We can't allow them to shoot down the helicopters in the retrieval team. We'll be dropped off a few miles away to avoid the possibility of our choppers being shot down. We'll also be dropped on different roads several miles apart from each other. Where the roads intersect, that's where the building is. From there, our squads will flank it from both sides. Doc. will be in an emergency helicopter waiting to come get medical aide to our wounded quickly. Now, any questions? No? Fine, then I'd like to turn your attention to some unrelated matters. General Treize has asked me to enlighten you. 3 days ago, a force of just three men attacked an Alliance ship convey and reportedly stole a top secret weapon. After that, they used the weapon and managed to destroy the entire convoy."

"Wow." Howie exclaimed. "It must be a pretty powerful weapon, then."

"Yes. The attack was carried out by the 'Ghosts', you know."

That was a term most of them had never heard before.

"The 'Ghosts'?" Fex asked.

"Yeah. The 'Ghosts' are a very secretive group, consisting of only 3 people that we know of. Absolutely nothing is known to give us a decent idea of what they are, or what their intention's are. They wear cloths that obscure their identity. There's a black 'Ghost', a blue 'Ghost', and a red 'Ghost'. Here are images captured from the cargo ship shortly before it was destroyed. Taylor."

Taylor switched on the first picture. It showed a well lit corridor in the ship.

"Now, as you can, nothing is wrong in this photo. Guards are standing at their post's, just like usual. But look at this second photograph."

It was the same corridor, but it was pitch black, with just a sliver of red light coming out of the door in the far right corner.

"Shit! We can't see anything in this photograph!" Lee yelled.

"Calm down, Lee. We've got another photo for you."

The last photo had more light in it, and it painted a gruesome scene. The guards that had been standing faithfully at their posts in the first picture were laying on the floor now, covered in blood. The walls were similarly painted with blood. And there were three non-recognizable figures standing in the hallway. The three 'Ghosts'.

"Wow...So that's them..." Fex said.

"Now, as you can see..." Explained Rapter, pointing at the photo. "...From the wounds, and the way the blood has splattered on the wall, they were cut by some kind of blade. This is true. When the 'Ghosts' are fighting on the ground, the use swords, and they are very proficient with them. Now direct your attention to their patches. This is interesting. Taylor, enlarge the black 'Ghost's' insignia. See? It's a rebel patch. But look at the blue 'Ghost's' patch. What is that patch, Kat?"

"I don't know. I've never seen one like it before..."

"Exactly. This is probably not the same blue 'Ghost' that was around since the 'Ghosts' were last spotted, because back then, the blue 'Ghost' also bore a rebel insignia. This new patch is probably the patch of some new organization we haven't encountered yet. But the red 'Ghost's' insignia is disturbing. Take a look."

When Taylor magnified the image, there was a collective gasp in the room.

"That's an Alliance patch!" Fex exclaimed.

"Yeah. And the truth is, it's next to impossible for that guy, whoever he is, to remain hidden with our intelligence. To keep his identity hidden for this long is absolutely mind boggling. Normally, a double agent like him would have been caught long ago. The only possible way I could think of that he has evaded us for so long is that someone is pulling some strings for him upstairs."

"A government conspiracy? Bloody hogwash!" Doc. countered.

"I don't want to believe it as much as you do, Doc.." Rapter said. "Anyway, that's it for now. Zero your sight's, clean your weapon's, study the maps, and stock up on equipment and ammo before the mission. Meet up with your corresponding team's at 1700 hours. You are dismissed, people."

They left the briefing room.

"Hey, Lee! What did Rapter mean when he said double agent?" Chris pestered his older brother.

"He meant a spy who is working for the rebels. Basically, they're sent from the rebels to work inside our organization and sabotage shit. When the right time comes, they strike."

"But do you think there's such a thing as a triple agent?"

Lee was clearly getting agitated. "God dammit, Lee! No!"

1728 hours...

(5:28 standard time...)

All the birds were in the air.

"Wow! Can you see that, Lee!" Chris said with giddy excitement, sitting in his leo.

"What?"

"This! I'll patch it through to you!" A new screen appeared on Lee's HUD(head up display). It showed the choppers deploying the cannon to the hill. "Isn't it cool?"

Lee frowned at Chris through the pilot-to-screen. "I'm not saying anything." He said. Then he switched off the communicator.

"Cut the chatter in there. We've got 10 seconds till the drop. Get ready."

The cargo bay door to the transport opened.

"Oh, boy..."

A CAH-16 skimmed low to the ground. It slowed sown and began to hover over the narrow dirt road. The ramp in the back of the chopper opened and Kat's squad filed out onto the dirt road. Once they were all out, the chopper closed the ramp, turned around and headed back home. Kat, with her five-seven in hand, motioned her men to follow her down the road.

Chris, Lee, and Dog man were on site. They hadn't assumed combat position yet. They were socializing.

"Dog man..." Lee inquired. "Where are you from?"

"A little place called outer space. I was born on space colony 0772."

"Oh! So you're a colony resident. Cool! What's it like living up there?"

"Better than living down here. Earth is overrated."

"You got that right."

Chris was checking to make sure all the parts on the sniper rifle his leo had were intact. Then he looked down the scope.

"Holy shit! Enemies are already advancing on this position!"

"Really?" Dog man asked. He couldn't believe the enemy was already coming. "Lee! Load up the gun!" Dog man got into firing position. "Chris! Buy us some time with your sniper rifle!"

"Will do, sir!" Chris fired the first round from his leo's sniper rifle. He was surprised how powerful it was. His first shot hit the closest leo in the arm, and it took the arm off. Actually, its more like it _exploded _off, since it went spiraling way far away from it's body. Better yet, it was the arm the leo had been holding its weapon with. Chris wished he could see the look on the pilot's face...

"Hurry up!" Dog man ordered.

"I'm coming!" Lee said, scrambling over to the cannon with an ammo belt.

"Hurry up!" Dog man repeated. Lee inserted the belt into the cannon's feeding mechanism. "Hurry!" Lee pulled back the cocking hammer and then let go.

"Fire now!"

Dog man pulled the trigger and began mowing down enemy leos.

The late afternoon sun beat down on Kat's squad. Kat was guessing that it was about 95 degrees. It was really hot. Fatigue was still far away from setting in. Kat hoped the heat wouldn't get to their brains.

"My...GOD!" One of Kat's squad members said, seemingly out of the blue.

"What the f..." Kat turned around towards her squad. But it wasn't some childish prank like she expected it to be. Her comrade's were looking up in genuine shock. She turned around to see what they were looking at. She was scared to see what it was...

...And there was a really, really good reason for that.

There were two bodies hanging up in a tree, both naked. One of them had his chest cut open and all of his inside's were hanging out. The other had his penis and his testicles cut off and stuffed in his mouth.

"_HOLY FUCK!_" Kat was on the verge of puking. This _was_ the most disgusting sight she had even seen, undisputably. She couldn't look at it anymore.

"What are we going to do?" One of her squad mates asked.

"Go on with the mission." She answered. "We'll send somebody back to get these guys. Come on. We can't stay here any longer."

They continued past the mutilated bodies...

They didn't get far, though...

It wasn't long until Kat noticed movement in the huge oak tree 50 yards away in the wheat field on the left. It was probably a bird, she thought. Just as soon as that thought ran through her mind, the maniac in the tree opened fire with his machine gun.

"Hit the deck!" She commanded. Her troop's fell over and took cover. The machine gunner kept firing. Kat could hear his insane laughter, just barely over the roar of the machine gun. "These must be Blood Curlers..." She concluded. The bullets kept ricocheting overhead. It was scary and deeply disturbing. They had to keep down. The machine gunner kept firing. He kept laughing, too. He was definitely a Blood Curler. Nobody else could be this insane...

Not smart...

Kat knew that his machine gun would eventually overheat and explode. And that's exactly what happened.

"BOOM!"

The gunfire stopped. Kat jumped to her feet. She saw him flying out of the tree, arms gone, the rest of his body badly scalded. Parts of the gun flew everywhere. Kat breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on, guys. Let's go."

Her squad slowly stood up, nervous. But they were brave and stood up.

"Fuck you!" A mysterious voice called from near the area where machine gunner had fallen.

"Oh, god." Kat sighed. "That guy can't possibly have survived that."

"We're gonna kill all of you!" This voice was from the right side.

"Oh, NO!"

Then multiple voices began taunting them, saying very similar things to what the last two voices had said.

"Get ready, guys!" She said, cocking her gun.

...Then the voices suddenly stopped.

"W-what?"

"What's going on?"

"Calm down!" Kat ordered. "They're just messing with you."

Suddenly, automatic rifle fire broke out from both sides. Some of her men got hit, but they all hit the dirt regardless.

"Don't take that shit from them! Fire back!"

They responded with a volley of their own. The medics dragged the injured into the middle in between the two firing groups. They began working as Kat directed the return fire.

"You!" She yelled at the kid she kneeling next to. "Use your grenade launcher!"

He aimed blindly through the stalks of wheat. Once he built up enough courage, he pulled the front trigger. The grenade exploded several yards away and expelled dirt and several bodies 30 yards in the air. Kat patted the kid on the back.

"Good job!"

As soon as she withdrew her hand, bullet holes riddled the kid's back. His head slumped forward and he died. Kat pivoted her head. The Blood Curler that had killed him was now rushing her. She punched him in the crotch. Then she put her gun against his jaw bone and fired. Blood splattered over her hand. She kicked his dead body over.

"Damn it! Don't let anybody else in that close!"

She heard a really loud gunshot, probably from a sniper rifle. Then one of her team members exploded.

Kat stood there, covered in his blood. That set her off.

"I can't take this. I can't take this. I can't take this. I can't take this. I CAN'T TAKE THIS!"

She dove into a bush and took cover.

The Blood Curlers started yelling, screaming. They were starting to charge as a team. Their fire intensified. Kat watched as more and more of her men fell to the enemy fire. Finally, there was only one left. The first Blood Curler stepped onto the dirt road. Kat's last soldier had no ammo left for his assault rifle, so he tossed it aside and brought out his handgun. The Blood Curler charged him with a sharp, jagged knife. The Blood Curler got to him first. He stabbed Kat's last man. The knife came right through his back. He removed the knife and let the man fall dead.

The rest of his Blood Curler friends came onto the dirt road. The man with the bloody knife howled in triumph, not unlike a wolf. Kat noticed his friends elbowing him. Then he looked back down at his victim. He knelt down and started carving into the body. Then he reached down and picked something up...

...A man's heart...

He started _eating_ it. His friend's started howling. Kat fainted.

Fex was flying in Mosquito 6, helping to escort Fly team. They got a transmition from General Trieze.

"Mosquito squadron, the ground team has captured the building. You are go to capture the cargo. Out."

The squadron leader called his wing men.

"Okay. Our mission is to protect is to protect Fly squadron. That is a priority. When the situation gets tight, remember that. Remember, even if one gets destroyed, the mission is over. Got that, Mosquito 6?"

"Yes, sir." Fex answered.

"Good. Let's go."

The planes fell into formation and escorted the choppers.

Treize still didn't feel secure. He wanted an update from all the units. He dialed in the frequency for the team protecting the western hill.

Lee's face came up on the screen.

"How are things going there, Lee?" Treize asked.

"Oh, yeah, what a great way to ask how we're doing! We've got enemies incoming but we're keeping them contained! We'll hold out here!"

"Good."

Over the communicator, Treize heard Dog man say "Lee! Ammo!".

"Sorry! Gotta go!" Lee switched off his communicator.

Treize switched to east hill frequency. He got Howie. Howie told him nothing was happening, and from the lack of background noise, that was believable. So he got off that frequency. Then he tried Kat's ground unit again. Still no response...

Kat woke up. The Blood Curlers were gone. She looked around. They had hung up her comrades up in the oak tree in the same gruesome fashion of the other two down the road. She couldn't stand it. She ran down the road towards the rendevous point.

Up in the air, one of the Mosquito squadron members was playing Italian opera style music.

"Mosquito 4, turn that shit off."

"Sorry, sir, but I'm going to have to refuse that order."

"Can you tell what those people are saying? Why do you listen to that stuff?"

"No, I can't understand the lyrics, but I listen to it to calm myself down..."

"Well, I guess if that's what it's for, then there's no harm in it."

Fex pulled his fighter up next to Mosquito 4. Mosquito 4 was waving his hand, kind of he was conducting the opera. To Fex, it looked completely idiotic. But he was sure that to him, it was soothing.

Radar warnings went off.

"Enemy fighter plane! It's coming! Don't let it shoot down any of the helicopters!"

Mosquito 1 through 5 zipped quickly to the aide of the choppers, but Fex got caught in thought and lagged behind.

"The fighter is getting close! It...it...wait, it's passing the helicopters! It's coming for us!...Wait it's passing _us, _too. Wait...Mosquito 6! He's singling you out! He's headed straight for you!"

Fex suddenly sprung to life. He started looking all around him. "Where? Where is he?"

"Hello, there."

Fex checked his six. The enemy plane was right behind him.

"WHOA!"

Fex banked left right before the planed fired it's cannons. The enemy turned to pursue him.

"So, this is what the J.T.M.S. is turning out? I anxious to test you. Just try to shoot me down."

"Fex! Do it! Shoot him down!"

Kat stumbled toward the building. She was almost there. She could see Rapter at the front door. She made a final sprint toward the door.

"Rapter!"

Rapter turned his head and when he noticed Kat, his eye's went wide.

"Kat! You're alive!"

"Yeah! Blood Curlers beat the fuck out of my squad."

"Yeah, I know. I sent one of my runners down there. He said it looked like hell."

"Yeah, it did. Did you..."

"Yes. We've captured the building. We have one more thing to do here before we call the reinforcements in."

"What?"

Rapter motioned for Kat to follow him. They went through the front door into the living room. Several of Rapter's squad members were lined up, guns in hand, in front of some of the enemy that were taken prisoner. Rapter handed Kat a video recorder.

"Record, Kat." He instructed.

"What's going on?" Kat asked, reluctantly turning the camera on.

Rapter grinned, then with a certain pride he said "Retribution.". Then he turned and said "OPEN FIRE!".

His men began shooting the prisoners, and Kat was filming it. She was filming this bloody, unjust event. Some of the prisoners died willingly. Others tried survive the barrage as long as they could. They curled up on the ground, trying to make themselves smaller targets.

When the smoke cleared, there were dead bodies all over the ground. Kat had finished recording, but there was blood all over the camera. There was one prisoner left alive, and he was sitting in the corner with a bullet wound to the chest. Rapter started toward him.

Kat ran in front of him to stop him. "Don't do it! It's not right! You need to learn mercy!"

"Like shit I do! This is retribution!" He continued toward the injured prisoner.

Kat forced herself in front of him again. She ripped her uniform.

"What the hell, Kat!"

"Don't kill that guy! Do what you want with me! Rape me! Injure me! Fucking kill me! Just don't kill him! You don't want to face accusations of war crimes!"

"Are you threatening me? I don't think you wanna do that. I'll kill you before you tell anybody!"

Kat stopped and got out of the way. Rapter walked up to the injured prisoner. He got something out of his pocket and showed it to Rapter.

It was a picture of his family...

Rapter stared at it for a while. Then he delivered a swift kick to his stomach.

Fex was still trying to evade the enemy plane. Somehow, he and the enemy fighter pilot had gotten into a conversation.

"Pathetic. I was expecting more from you."

"Urmmm... Save it. I don't give a rat's ass about what you have to say."

"Your father was a coward you, you know. He ran, betrayed his destiny. He never believed in pacifism, and you know that..."

"Shut it!"

Fex leveled out and started flying straight. The enemy plane pulled up behind him.

"Mosquito 6, hurry up! The retrieval team has already left the area!"

The enemy plane got a missile lock on Fex.

"Goodbye..."

Fex got cocky.

"That's what you think."

Then Fex pulled back on the stick hard and applied the airbrake. He went right over the enemy plane and got behind him.

"What?"

Fex fired his cannon. The plane drew flames and began to go down.

"Damn you...FEX ANDERSON!" Then his radio cut out.

3 hours later...

Treize was debriefing all the units involved in the operation.

"Despite some heavy loses on the ground, Operation PICKPOCKET was a success. All the units met their objectives, with the exception of the squad headed by sergeant Kat. That was out of your control, Kat, so we won't penalize you. For a more detailed debriefing, meet with your more direct commanding officer. Dismissed."

Back in the dorms...

"You know I'll be taking that out of your pay, don't you?" Rapter asked Kat. She was staring at the floor.

"Yes, sir." She felt so humiliated, because Rapter had kept everybody else up to witness this.

"Don't you ever question my command decision again, got it?"

"..."

"HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Rapter hit her in the face. And when he did, everybody else felt her pain.

Wow! So melodramatic! Review!


	8. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 7

Yo! Sup', beeyotch! 'Dis be my Gundam story, dawg! Ok! Fo' shizzle!

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 7:

Letters home:

The next morning...

Fex woke up to Taylor shouting "Letters! Letters! You got letters to write to your friends, family, and your sweet hart back at home! Get cracking!"

Fex felt the cold slap of paper on his face.

"Get working, Anderson."

Fex let the paper flop into his hand's. He stared at it blankly for a second, then he took a pen from his desk and started writing.

_Dear Diz and Mena..._

_Your older brother is doing fine. How are you doing? Anything interesting happening in school? Either of you found any cute boys? Are you keeping your grade's up?..._

Fex paused. He found it awkward that he actually wanted to know this stuff. He actually wanted to know how school was going. He remembered going to school and wishing for there to be a fire so the school would burn down and he wouldn't have to go. Why did he want to know? He needed to get off that subject. He thought of the next best thing.

_You know what? This war thing isn't as bad as some people say it is. The worst part is the training, which I'm sure is just there to completely make war seem awful. I haven't seen many battles yet, but nothing leads me to believe that war is as awful as the pacifists tell us. Yet..._

Fex paused again, then wrote.

_I still don't want you guys joining the military. It's still far from what I'd call 'fun'. I'm going to use a lot of big words now, and I'll tell you when you're older. My captain, captain Howie, is a rapist, drug trafficker, arms dealer, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's not all he did. Our commander is a sadistic maniac. And there are a bunch of crazy mercenaries running around that everybody hates. I'll be fine though. Don't worry about me. Just do well in school and stay off drugs._

_Love..._

_F.A._

Dammit, Fex. He thought. Keep off the school subject.

Kat had got her paper and wondered what to write to her mother.

_Dear Mom..._

_You have no idea of the horrors I have seen. You have no idea what kind of horrible, terrible things I've seen and have even taken part in. Yes, we went through some bad times when I was younger but we pulled through. I'm worried what this war will do to me. I'm worried how I'll change through this war, if I even survive. I'd hate to come home and only be a shell of what I used to be. But I can imagine it. You'd open the door at the sound of the doorbell, and you'd me. No, you wouldn't see me, you would see a ghost. I'd look like one of those thin, decrepit prisoners of war. I don't want to think of your face, the pain in your face. No, I won't let it happen. I won't let you get hurt. If I should start to look like that, I will never let you see me. It would hurt you. I don't want you to be in pain._

She started crying and whispering the words as she wrote them.

_Mom! I miss you! God! I won't let you feel the pain! If that should happen, I will shoot myself and put you out of your misery! Mom! I'm scared! I don't wanna go insane! Mommy! Help me!_

She couldn't write any more. She jabbed her pencil into the paper as her crying intensified and created an ink blot. Then she folded up the paper and tried to regain her composure.

The entire base had assembled at the mess hall to send and receive letters. There was an exciting air, just like kids on Christmas morning. Treize and his assistant's were handing out mail to the eager soldiers who crowded around them.

The members of the J.T.M.S. watched this from a safe distance while waiting for their name's to be called.

"Who's this? 'Maccy', addressed to tank company B. Who's is this?" Treize called.

"Mine's, sir!" A stocky young man with a crew cut replied.

"Who's this from?"

"Probably my girlfriend, sir!"

"Oh. Well, that explains it." Treize remarked. The group of soldiers in the mess hall laughed.

Kat came out from the quarters.

"You're late." Howie scolded.

"Yeah, I know."

"It's not like it's the end of the world." Chris said, trying to console Kat as well as score some extra brownie points with her.

"Shut it, Chris." Lee countered. Chris flipped him off.

"All of you, shut the fuck up." Rapter concluded.

Fex turned around and looked at Kat. Her head was drooped over and she held her folded letter with both hands. Fex swung his head over to get a good look at her face. Her face was misty and red, just like she had just been crying. She noticed him looking at her but didn't look up at him. He gave her a smile to raise her spirit's.

"Fex Anderson!" Treize's voice sounded like a clap of thunder. Fex snapped out of it. He turned and waddled through the crowd to exchange letters.

Meanwhile...

A C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. was slowly making it's way down the road, towards the crash site. When it got to the crash site, the soldiers spilled out and headed toward the pilot, who was slumped against the wreckage, reading something.

"Are you all right, sir?" The squad captain asked. The pilot didn't answer. "Sir?"

The pilot finally answered, but it probably wasn't the answer they were expecting.

"'Once upon a time...'" The pilot read. "'There was a man. The man was very unappreciated. He was made fun of at work. In his spare time, he collected dolls. He was what you would call, a pedofile. One day, he payed a visit to the park. And to the children he said...'" He began to giggle before he said. "'Hey, kids. I want to fuck you all!'"

He closed the book and began to giggle uncontrollably. "Did you like it? I wrote it myself!" Then he began to laugh insanely.

Back at the base...

The letter exchange had ended. Everyone was heading back to their quarters.

"Does anybody know where Fex is?" Rapter asked.

"Ah. Said he was going back to his room to read the letter he got from his sister's." Lee answered.

"Why couldn't he have waited out here like the rest of us?" Howie grudged.

"NO!" A yell from the crowd said. "NO! GOD DAMMIT! NO!" There was a man running through the crowd flailing his arm's and crying. Then he fell face first on the floor.

"Whoa! Whoa! What happened, man?" Chris asked, putting his hand's on the man's shoulders.

"God damn drunk driver...Fucking flattened my kid sister...Oh, God! Dear God! Help me! I wanna' go home! I wanna' go home! I wanna' go home!"

He started repeating that over and over again. Suddenly, Kat sprinted for the barracks.

"Kat!" Rapter called after her.

Kat burst through the front door of the barracks screaming.

"FEX!"

"Hmm?" Fex mumbled from his bed to the right of Kat.

"Fex, are your sisters all right?" Kat asked, to which he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, no reason..." But Kat noted that Fex still did not seem very pleased. "What's wrong, then?"

Fex pointed toward the television set. On the news, there were some very shocking images. An _entire _space colony had been destroyed.

"Oh my god. You would need a pretty powerful weapon to destroy a colony."

"Yeah. You're acting strange, Kat. Maybe you should get some sleep."

"Yeah..."

The rest of the squad came through the front door.

"Dammit, Kat!" Rapter yelled. "When I want you to stay put, I expect you to FUCKING STAY PUT!"

"Yes, sir..."

"Fex..." Rapter tossed something to Fex. "You got another letter."

Fex began to open his new letter.

"Real smart, Kat." Howie scolded.

Fex unfolded the letter and looked at it.

"What does it say?" Kat asked.

Fex read it to himself and his face changed from confused to even more confused. He lowered the letter and looked at the television screen. Then he looked at the letter again.

"What does it say?" Kat repeated.

"It says 'Just a taste of things to come. Love...Mom.'"

!I didn't know that was coming, did you? In your review, tell me the emotions you felt during this chapter.


	9. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 8

_**I am so tired of doing this! Gundam is Bandai's! Gundam the Dark Era is mine! Now get away from me! I'm fucking pissed off!**_

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 8:

Killing the star:

About a week or so later...

There had been no action for a while, and the members of the J.T.M.S. were getting bored. That's why they were happy when Taylor brought them the news that there was going to be a mission briefing very soon. Well...at least Fex was.

"YAY! We've got a mission!" Fex harped, enthusiastically. Kat and Howie looked at him with scorning eyes.

"He's so stupid sometimes." Kat commented to Howie.

In his room, general Albert lay in his bunk staring at his giant Nazi cross. He loved that thing. Then he picked up his Bible and read a few verses from it. He also loved his Bible. Some people said that was contradictory, but he couldn't see why.

The General came into his room. General Albert stood up and saluted him.

"Are you okay, sir?" He asked. The General rubbed his face like he was tired.

"General Albert... What would you say if I said that I was possessed by the Devil himself and that he was telling me to murder you and eat your organ's?"

"Well, I'd say two things. First, your sense of humor needs work and secondly you'd be blaspheming. Even though your nickname is 'Black Ghost'. You are a man of God, General Ashton." Albert picked up his Bible and went to stand next to his Nazi flag. " Saint Matthew, 6:24: 'No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.' So, who will it be, 'Black'? God or mammon?"

Albert looked up from his Bible. 'Black' had his .357 pointed right at him.

General Albert's blood soon covered his beloved Nazi flag.

Rapter slammed a picture down onto the battle plan map.

"As keeping with my responsibilities, I have been requested by general Treize to give you the following information. Meet general H. H. Ashton senior." He removed his hand from the picture. There on the picture was an immense, grey haired rebel general. Chris was unimpressed.

"So?"

"So? This man is of extreme interest to us! He's suspected to be a member of the 'Ghosts'."

Howie removed a cigarette from his mouth. "A 'Ghost'? That would be interesting."

"Exactly! He's one crazy bastard. He says he's possessed by a evil spirit and says that spirit drives him to do things like kill the generals that he doesn't agree with and eat their intestines."

"Fuck, that's gross."

"Don't worry, their's no solid proof that he actually does that. But he really does have a record of killing his own general's. He has a liking for the Blood Curlers, because he has always been about psychological warfare, and that's why he sometimes kills his own generals. He needs an excuse to balance out his council with generals that are mostly focused on psychological tactics. He's a very smart man. A spy of his would be harder to find than most. Here's the good news. If we get him, we win."

"You mean we win the war?" Fex asked.

"Yeah. But I wouldn't get careless if I were you. He could turn your win right back at ya', he's that smart." Rapter folded his arm's. "That's it. After today's battle, I want you guys to look for intelligence on him. See how smart this guy really is. Dismissed."

Howie visited Fex in his room later.

"Fex, you're going on today's mission, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, we're going in leos, which means yours is in. Have you seen it yet?"

"Nope. But I will. Have you seen it?"

"No."

"Then why this conversation?"

"I don't know."

"Aw, fuck it."

Howie just stood there, watching Fex clean his pistol. He was doing it really fast and carelessly.

"Why don't you take your time to clean your gun?"

"Because I don't have time."

"Time?" Howie scoffed. "Time, Fex? Time is useless. Waste it. Nothing good ever comes from conserving time. Thought! Now thought, don't waste thought. Thought is useful. Think things through, Fex."

"Okay. I'll try to listen to your advice."

Howie stalled again. Then, seemingly out of the blue, Howie mentioned "Kat was raped by one of our own generals.".

Fex stopped. He looked up at Howie. "How do you know that? You are a convicted serial rapist yourself. Why the fuck do you care?"

"Okay, first off, I know that because Kat told me."

"OH! Fuck, I don't believe that! Why the fuck would she tell you? I thought she fucking hated you!"

"She does..."

"THEN TELL ME WHY THE FUCK SHE'S TELLING YOU THIS SHIT!"

The front door to the quarters opened. Treize came in.

"Fex, come with me." And just like that, their conversation was over.

"What is it?" Fex asked Treize, saluting him.

"Come. I want to show you something."

"My leo? I know I got it in today."

"No, actually, you're not getting one."

"WHAT!"

"Don't feel disappointed, Fex. You're getting something better."

Huh? Better? Fex was confused.

Treize led fex to the mobile suit hanger.

Right before they entered the hanger, Treize stopped.

"Remember the wreckage you helped secure in the last mission?"

"Uh...yeah."

Treize opened the hanger door. The first thing he saw was a huge mobile suit.

"Whoa! That thing is _huge_!"

"Yep, and it's yours."

Fex's jaw dropped and his head slowly turned toward Treize.

"NO...FUCKING...WAY..."

"Yes f-ing way."

With his jaw still agape, Fex returned his gaze toward the mobile suit.

"That thing has a lot of state-of-the-art technology in it. We're going to be testing this in the next mission along with the Air Force's new S.T.A.R. missiles. The main weapon it has been equipped with is technological engineering at its best. It's a M.W.S., multiple weapon system for short. The great thing about it is that it has four separate weapon systems built in. Machine gun, sniper rifle, grenade launcher, and flamethrower. There's a console in there that switches between them. It has the 'X' system in it, so you don't have to worry about consoles all the time. The cockpit seals off G-forces, so you don't have to worry about those. It's all built from a new alloy taken from the moon called 'Gundanium'. It's got Gatling guns and missile launchers mounted in it's head. Oh! Back to the M.W.S.! Another great thing about it is that it never runs out of ammo. That's because it doesn't take normal ammo. All it has is energy. The technology that the weapon uses does something thing that converts mechanical energy into actual kinetic energy. I don't know everything about that, you may want to ask the technicians. The weapon does overheat, though. The different weapons overheat at different rates, so keep that in mind. So, go ahead. It's yours."

Fex broke out in a run towards his new tow.

"FUCK YEAH, MAN! I'VE GOT THE BIGGEST FUCKING TOY OUT OF THIS WHOLE PLACE! YEAH!"

"I thought he'd like it..." Treize smirked.

Several soldiers entered general Albert's room. It had been completely trashed. There was blood everywhere. His bunk had been torn apart. His document's were gone. So was his gun.

But the worst part was in the kitchen...

His liver was on the frying pan...

"Wait! Wait! This is the fun part!" Said an overly giddy Chris.

The runway controller gave the order. "Launch!"

The transport's afterburner lit. It accelerated down the runway. Chris was having a ball.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Lee punched him. "DAMMIT! SHUT UP!"

The transports lifted off.

The runway controller reported. "All birds are away and all systems for operation 'Kill the star' are in the green."

Fex stood in the cargo bay of the transport admiring his new ride. It was so massive, it completely dwarfed the leos. In the transports, there were two leos. But in this one, they only had his new 'Gundam', as the technician referred to it. Fex loved the thing. He hadn't even piloted it yet and he already knew he loved it.

Howie was sitting in his leo looking over the mission data. Kat was leaning over the edge and looking in on him.

"What's going down?" She asked. Howie brought up the mission overlay screen on his monitor.

"Okay, we're going to attack space colony 0772..."

"Hey!" Chris exclaimed over the communicator. "Lee! Isn't that Dog man's home colony?"

"Yeah, I think it is! He's gonna be pissed when he hears that we're gonna be attacking his own colony."

"I already FUCKING KNOW!" Dog man yelled over the communicator.

"Oh...Sorry, man..."

"Don't worry about it..."

Howie looked back at his screen. "Anyway, by the time we get to the colony, the air lock doors will be closed. So, to get around that, the Air Force has invented these new missiles, codenamed S.T.A.R. missiles. There will be two of these missiles mounted on each large capacity transport on special pylons. These missiles contain a ultra-flammable liquid, so when these missiles explode, not only does it create a huge explosion, but anything in the proximity of the explosion simply disappears. Grrr... Blood Curlers ships are going to be providing support for us. They're gonna create a blockade to the colony when we enter. And as for entering, once our transport's create a big enough hole in the airlock door, the transports will fly in, fire downward facing cables into whatever is below them, throttle all the way down, engage vertical thrusters, and land. And we, in our leo's, will exit the transports and make our way into the colony via the shafts. We can expect some laser cannons to hinder us. Our main target is the launching catapult. If you're wondering why we wouldn't try to go in through the catapult, well, it's too small to fit our leos. Besides, sending a small team in there would be suicide. It's to well protected. Once we capture the military facility, we'll hold there until relieved, unless we get new orders."

There was silence.

"Hey..." One of the pilots said. "Anybody care for some music?"

Classical music started playing. Fex was laying down in his new mobile suit, listening. There was yet another Italian chick singing the music. Fex couldn't stand this style of music, and he started to nod off to sleep. He noticed how comfortable the new seat was...

He was waken up by a jolt. People were screaming over the radio.

"FUCK! THEY'VE GOT LASER CANNONS TRAINED ON US! WHERE'S THE BLOOD CURLER SUPPORT?"

Fex pressed a button to close the cockpit. Then he turned on his monitor to observe the battle going on outside.

Fire from one of the laser cannons impacted a S.T.A.R. missile, which exploded into a blinding flash of white light, and it completely enveloped the transport.

"SHIT! MAYBE WE SHOULDN'T HAVE MADE THOSE MISSILES!"

"CALM DOWN, EVERYBODY!" Rapter commanded.

"Need some help?" Said the new, grizzly sounding voice. Then several Blood Curler ships appeared.

"ABOUT FUCKING TIME! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU!"

"Taking care of some business. Now, if you guys will get out of our way, we're gonna' tear some shit up."

"Roger. We'll get out of your way."

The large transports made an opening for the Blood Curler gun ships. The gun ships headed straight for the colony. They were flying extremely fast. The laser cannons couldn't get a fix on them and their beams streaked right past them.

Then they began their attack and literately began tearing up the surface of the colony with their cannons. It was like they were making their own canyon's on the colony's surface. Enemy laser cannon fire almost immediately stopped.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GET THIS SHIT STARTED!"

The transports got into position to fire their missiles.

"Who's gonna' do the honors of firing the first missile?" Asked the pilot of the transport in the rear.

"I will, thank you very much." Said the pilot to Fex's transport. He flipped the covering off the launch button. "Here goes nothing..." He pressed the red button.

The missile rocketed off the pylon with the force of a hurricane. They had it playing on the monitors. Some of the leo pilots were doing a fake drum roll. And then it happened, and it sounded like the conception of the world.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" All the transports were rocked by the force of the explosion. It was rough for almost 5 seconds. Then when they regained sight, hearing, and control, their jaws dropped. There was a huge hole in the door. Then everybody wanted to shoot one off.

"OH, FUCK YEAH! LET'S DO IT!"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

Soon, the entire door was gone.

"Alright, guys. Let's drop our boys off."

The transports flew into the airlock.

"Fire the cables!"

Outlets on the bottom of the transports opened up and hook-like devices peeked out. The transport pilot pressed the buttons and fired the hooks into the floor of the airlock. The transports jerked back a bit, but it was easily controllable. The transports turned on their vertical thrusters and turned off their forward thrusters. They took the transports down gently and landed in the airlock.

"Alright, guys. Get the fuck out of here and do some fucking damage."

The cargo bays opened and the leos and Fex's mobile suit came out.

"Fex! Lookin' good, man!" Lee complemented.

"Tha..."

"NO TIME FOR COMPLEMENTS!" Rapter scolded, exiting a transport in his leo. "WE'VE GOT A FUCKING MISSION TO CARRY OUT!"

"Ah...Yes, sir..."

"See? See the shaft?" Rapter pointed his leo's finger toward the opening. "All units, head for the shaft! I want the J.T.M.S. members in the back along with me, Taylor, and Dog man to cover the main attack force! Now move out!"

The mobile suits packed into the shaft, one by one. The younger pilots were talking and giving each other advice.

"Keep it steady, watch for threats."

"Turn your night vision on, guys."

"Hey, this is kind of like one of those really old horror movies..."

"DAMMIT! SHUT UP YOUR GIVING ME THE CREEPS!"

"Ew-WEEEEEE-EEEEEEEEE-OOOOOOO!"

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCKING STOP IT! YOUR FUCKING FREAKING ME OUT!"

Then Rapter intervened. "Stop it, guys. It sounds like he's really freaking out."

The lights in the shaft suddenly came on and it turns out they were completely surrounded by laser cannons.

"HELL! HOLY FUCK!"

The laser cannons opened up. Almost immediately, several of the rookies were torn apart. The more experienced ones used their boosters to dodge the initial barrage and fired back.

Rapter shouted. "DIE, MOTHER FUCKERS!"

Chris was focusing on the cannons on the left side of the shaft. He was firing his rifle and spraying the rounds all over the place. A cannon behind him aimed at Chris.

"CHRIS, WATCH OUT!"

Lee boosted and pushed Chris's leo out of the way. The cannon missed.

"FUCK IT, LEE! I AM FUCKING FINE!"

"OH, GREAT WAY TO REPAY A FAVOR!"

Fex remembered Treize saying that the cockpit in his mobile shielded him from G-forces. He decided to test that. He switched to machine gun.

"COME GET ME, MOTHER FUCKERS!"

He turned on his booster's and flipped over backwards, firing his machine gun at the cannons and taking a bunch of them out.

He landed perfectly.

"TAKE THAT, SHIT HEADS!"

Kat was firing like crazy and taking out a bunch of laser cannons. Then one popped up behind her and locked on.

Fex took notice.

"KAT! WATCH OUT!"

Fex boosted and caught Kat's leo, carrying her to safety. He turned his gun on the cannon and blasted it.

"KAT! YOU OKAY?"

"YEAH! THANKS!"

Rapter realized that they were not making any progress by just blasting away at the cannons. They had to move on.

"TAYLOR!" He yelled. "GET OUR GUYS! WE'RE PULLING OUT!"

"UNDERSTOOD! ALRIGHT, GUYS! LET'S GET THE FUCK OUTTA' HERE! CHRIS! YOU COVER OUR ASSES!"

They moved down the shaft, through the narrower part. Chris was moving his leo backward and firing simultaneously at the cannons. There was one rookie way ahead of them. He was turning a corner.

"NO! WAIT, MAN!"

He turned the corner and his leo got struck by cannon fire. The hit knocked out the mechanism required for movement.

"DAMMIT! FEX, GET DOWN THERE AND HELP HIM IF YOU CAN!"

Fex boosted his suit down to the bend.

"HEY MAN! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!"

The leo pilot barely came in. "Just... kill me...and go on..."

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"DO IT, FEX!" Rapter ordered. "JUST TORCH HIM, PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY AND WE CAN GO!"

"WHAT! WHAT! WHAT THE FUCK! I REFUSE TO KILL MY OWN COMRADE!"

"GOD DAMMIT, ANDERSON! HE'S SUFFERING! HE'S GONNA' DIE ANYWAY! JUST FUCKING TORCH HIM AND GET IT OVER WITH!"

Fex was scared, but he had a feeling Rapter had a point. Fex switched to the flamethrower weapon and pointed it at his comrade.

"DO IT, ANDERSON!" Rapter egged him. "GET IT OVER WITH!"

"UNDERSTAND THIS, ANDERSON!" Dog man said. "YOU CAN'T SAVE HIM! BUT IF YOU DON'T DO IT, WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!"

Soon, the entire group was egging him on. He kept on getting close, but he couldn't do it.

"ANDERSON! DO IT, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

Fex threw his head back and cried.

"**_WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUCK!_**"

He pressed the trigger and enveloped his friend in flames.

Flames came shooting out of the shaft. The leos guarding the launch catapult looked at it and worried.

"Are they pulling through?" One of the pilots asked.

Fex's suit jumped out of the shaft.

"THEY'RE HERE! GET 'EM! GET 'EM!"

The leos began shooting at the exiting forces. Fex boosted toward the catapult, shooting enemy leos with his machine gun. Chris jumped into the fray.

"HERE WE ARE! COME AND GET US YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!"

Lee pushed right up in front of the enemy leos. He started spinning and wacked an enemy right in the camera monitor, then he pointed his leo's rifle in the enemy's direction and started firing.

They overtook the catapult in less than three minutes. Fex positioned his suit right in front of the launch area under Rapter's command.

"Fex, stay here. Everybody else, let's go inside and see if we can find some important enemy documents."

Rapter got into the building, not even bothering to check his back or have somebody check his back for him. He was just busting through doors and rummaging through enemy documents. The others were struggling to keep up with him.

"Nothing..." He exited a room after finding nary a thing. He kicked down the next door. He knocked over the desk and started to rummage through the documents that fell out. Still nothing...

"FUCK! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE DOCUMENTS!"

Fex got a transmission in his cockpit. It wasn't from any alliance force.

"Um...c-me in-ve-." The voice was barely audible over the static.

"Who is this?" Fex asked.

"O, th-nk G-d! T— is th- a-lia-ce a-tac- f-rce, r–ht?"

"Yes, this is the alliance task force, if that is what you're asking."

"G–d! C– y-u -ome dow- to the r–ide-tial are? Do- ma- there?"

"Uh, sure..."

"Goo! We'– b- in a ap–tmen-ith – al—nce f-ag o- it!" Then the transmission cut out.

Fex was confused. He dialed in Treize's number.

"General Treize, I just got a transmission from an unknown force requesting aide in the residential section. What should I do? And who were they?"

"Hm. They were probably the alliance supporters that contacted us before the mission. They are apparently good friends of Dog man. They said they might need assistance fighting the rebel supporters in that area. My advice? Help them."

"All right. I'm gonna call the others." Fex switched off Treize's frequency. Then he called Rapter and the group.

"Guys, we got another job..."

Chris was looking through the garage. He had all the keys. And he was proud to have them.

"Hey, guys!" He called. "What kind of vehicle do we want to drive to the residential area?"

"A C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R.!" Dog man almost immediately answered back.

"All right, C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R., let's see, where's a C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R.?"

Chris flipped on the lights. There was one right in front of him.

"Ah! Here we are! Come on guys! We've got a ride!"

They all packed into the C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. and headed into the unknown.

Some soldiers entered the General's room.

"General! Somebody has killed general Albert!"

"I know..." He said, smirking.

"How do you know that?"

His smirk changed into a full fledged grin.

The C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. had entered the residential area.

"You know these people, Dog man?" Chris asked.

"Yeah. If they're the people I'm thinking about, they're good friends of mine."

"What's this about going into a civilized area? Aren't there going to be people around?" Fex asked.

"The people in this colony are deeply divided. There are the pro-alliance people and there are the anti-alliance people. My bet is that there is a turf war breaking out..."

Then there was the sound of squealing car tires outside.

"WHOA!" Rapter shouted. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR WAY!"

Suddenly...

"BOOM!"

The lights in the C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. flicked off. The impact of some force threw everybody against the wall.

"AAAAAHHHH!" They all screamed in unison.

Then silence...

"Guys... are you guys okay?" Rapter asked.

"Yeah..." Fex answered rubbing his head. Howie got into it and asked.

"What happened?"

"Car bomb... they blew up a car bomb... I don't believe we are going anywhere in this... we have to make it to the apartment on foot."

They opened the side door, guns drawn. They could see the apartment just down the street.

"Fex..." Howie said. "Go to that car down there! We'll cover you!"

Fex sprinted out into the open. He checked every angle, every position. He took cover behind the car. He looked into the square. There was the designated apartment on the left, with the alliance flag draped out the window. The light in that window was on. Then there was the apartment on the right. It looked completely empty, destitute...

He signaled for the others to come. They followed him with the same military precision. Fex pointed out the key positions to Rapter.

"Hm. Everybody keep an eye on our right flank."

Then, they slowly got into position to move toward the apartment. They kept their gun's focused on the entrance to the right apartment building.

Then they heard shouting and gunshots.

"KILL THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS!"

Several armed militants came running out of the right apartment building. This surprised them, and they were unprepared for it. But they were quickly mowed down by fire from above.

"DOG MAN!" A man holding a rifle waved from the lit window. "WE KNEW YOU WERE COMING! COME ON UP HERE!"

Dog man turned to the others. "Hold here until I come back." He entered the apartment.

Then, after some discussion, he came back down.

"We're going through that apartment there."

"All right." Rapter said. "Lead the way, Dog man."

Dog man led them into the building. He started going through closets. It looked like he was sniffing something out, just like a dog...

And then he found something...

There was a woman in a closet, and she looked horrified to see them. She tried to get away.

"Lady..." Dog man said. "Don't try to escape. You're just making this harder for us."

But then she cried out. And that's when...

...Dog man shot her.

Her dead body slumped over.

"What... WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Fex asked, outraged.

"We couldn't have her interfering here." Dog man answered.

Suddenly, people came out of nowhere, not soldiers, but civilians, packing knives, baseball bats, and brooms. They were outraged and they were out for blood.

They didn't have a choice. They had to protect themselves. So they started shooting.

They completely mowed them down. Women, children...

Fex stared at the bloody mess they had made. He dropped his gun and sank to his knee's. He began to cry.

"What... What... WHAT THE FUCK DID WE DO!"

Everybody else stood there, solemn. Dog man said. "They got in our way. We did what we had to do." He began to walk out. Fex suddenly got very angry and pinned Dog man to the wall.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT! YOU MADE US DO IT! IT'S ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT!"

Dog man got a hand free and he slugged Fex.

"Fex, that was NOT my fault!"

"THE FUCK IT IS!" He got back up and charged Dog man. "YOU GO TO HELL!" He rammed Dog man.

Dog man got pushed out the window.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

There was a gasp from the room.

"FEX!" Rapter said. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"

Fex looked out the window. Dog man's broken body lay there in a pool of blood. His eye's staying in that moment of shock.

Rapter repeated himself. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Fex cried. He ran past them and up to the roof. Then he spent some time contemplating what had happened that day.

Wow! Cool! Did you see that coming? Nope, I didn't think so. Review.


	10. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 9

That one whole segment of my story done. Time to move into segment two. This is my Gundam story, not yours or Bandai's, so only I know what I'm talking about. (Basically means that there's going to be change in the pace of the story for a little while.)

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 9:

Reassignment:

"The operation was successful." Said Treize, sitting at his desk. All the members of the J.T.M.S., including Doc., Rapter and Taylor, were standing at attention.

"However.." Treize paused. "The conduct of sergeant Fex Anderson was, according to those who were on the field with him, 'uncouth'. The behavior in question resulted in the death of one other fellow officer by the name of Dog man. Well, Anderson? Do you have anything to say for yourself or your actions?"

Fex just stood there, mumbling. It looked like he was about to say something, but he just couldn't get anything out.

Rapter elbowed Taylor. Taylor walked up to Fex and punched him really hard in the cheek. Fex's jawbone popped out of place. Taylor picked Fex up off the floor and started yelling at him.

"SPEAK, GOD DAMN YOU! FUCKING MORON!" He slammed Fex back into the ground.

Treize jumped at this. He knew everything about this unit. After all, he had helped to create it. But he didn't fathom how violent and how gruesome it would come across in real life.

Fex pulled himself up from the floor, wiping his bloody lip. "Sir... I can't... justify my action's right now. I went through some traumatic experiences in the operation. But the truth is... I don't know."

"DON'T YOU FUCKING LIE TO THE GENERAL! YOU KNOW GOD DAMN GOOD AND WELL WHAT HAPPENED! TELL GENERAL TREIZE!"

Fex just stood there. He didn't know what to do. Then Taylor's fist met his face again. This time the metal knuckles tore deep gashes in his forehead. He went flying backwards and landed on his back. His world went dizzy and he just lay there. The blood from the gashes in the head was seeping into his eyelid's. There was blood running from the corner of his mouth.

"Fex isn't going to be answering. It's okay. He can learn from this never to do stupid shit like that again." Rapter said. Fex was hearing all of this, but his sense's were messed up and it all was like an acid trip.

"Is he going to be okay?" Treize asked.

"He should be. I trained him to be tough." Rapter said, arrogantly. Taylor kicked Fex in the balls, but he could barely feel it. "I hope he doesn't start to cause trouble. If he does, he... Well, Kat's always causing a shit load of trouble for me. They'd be a nice pair."

"Yes, I guess so. Rapter, I've got a new assignment for the unit."

"Let's hear it. It's going to put us in some deep shit, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I know you can handle it. About two months ago, a Rebel garrison attacked one of our garrisons positioned in Paris, France. The attack not only left the city crumbled, but also left our garrison in bad condition. From what we can tell, they're short on weapons, food and equipment. And whatever they do have... let's just say it's in bad condition. You guys are going in there tomorrow. Re-supply them and reinforce them. They also have a hanger just outside of the city. Put some mobile suits there, just for insurance."

"How long are we staying there?"

"You are going to stay there until the top brass say you can come back."

"Are they expecting a counter-attack?"

"More than likely."

"Intelligence say how big of a counter-attack we can expect if we do get one?"

"No."

"Damn, we are screwed aren't, aren't we?" Rapter turned and looked down at Fex. "Doc., get this sac of shit out of here."

Fex felt someone grab his arm's and begin to drag him. Everything turned dark.

The next day...

Treize was surprised and somewhat relieved Fex came for letter exchange that morning. He had a huge, bloodied bandage wrapped around his forehead.

"Are you alright?" Treize asked.

"Yeah, but I've had a migraine since yesterday." Fex answered.

"Well, that's too bad." They gave each other their letters.

"Thanks." Fex said as he walked away.

Howie was looking for Fex. Rapter told him to find Fex. Howie hadn't seen him in the mess hall. Now he had to check the quarters.

"Fex, you in here?" He exclaimed as he opened the door.

"Here." Fex answered. Fex was sitting on his bunk, reading the letters he got.

"Fex, Rapter needs help loading supplies."

Fex didn't respond to that.

"You know what? I got another message from my mother. It says 'be strong'." Fex paused for a second, staring at the letter. Then he picked his pistol off the table, charged a magazine into the butt, and cocked a round into the chamber. Then he pointed the gun at the ceiling. "I wonder what that means, be strong? Could that mean endure to the end, perhaps? If that's what it means, she can fucking forget about it." Fex sat up, bringing his gun around in a full sweep. He had a creepy grin on his face that was out of place with Fex. Why was he grinning? "You wanna' know what the funny part is? The funny part is my mother died, what was it, ten years ago? Or, at least, she _should _have died. She should have been on that ship with my father when those fuckers blew it up. Is it possible she wasn't? Is it possible she survived?"

"I guess anything is possible." Howie responded.

"Anything, huh? Well, maybe you're right..."

"FEX!" Rapter's angry voice came on over the intercom. "GET YOUR FUCKING ASS DOWN TO THE LOADING BAY, NOW!"

"SHIT! FUCK UP!" Howie complained.

"Coming, ass fuck..." Fex muttered.

Fex and Howie went to the loading bay. The helicopter was in there and everybody was loading boxes into it. Rapter stood next to a pile of boxes.

"Took you long enough, Howie." Rapter picked a box up and handed it to Howie. "This goes in the back." Howie went to put it in the helicopter. "Mr. Anderson..."

"Yes... I know... I fucked up."

"Why did you do it?"

"I told you already. I don't know."

"Oh, yes you do. Is this your pacifist gene working? Is this some sort of act to sabotage both war efforts? A necessary evil in your mind to bring an end to all war? Don't you know? It's just like Kat said. War is never ending."

"So you did know what our conversation was about?"

"Yep."

Fex felt embarrassed. "Actually, sir, I really don't have a pacifist gene. Believe it or not, war is in my bloodline."

"Care to explain that to me?"

"Yes, actually. My family has a history of soldiers. In fact, my grandfather was a soldier. But he was killed in combat. My grandmother was told of this, but she kept that secret from my father. He was still young. She told him that my grandfather was going to be away longer. Then, bad things started happening. They were evicted from their house. Someone raped my grandmother. She became depressed and started drinking a lot. My father blamed the military for all of it. He envisioned the military as an excuse to get away from all the problems people have at home. He hated the military. He looked for any way he could away from the draft."

"Pacifism. Diplomatic immunity."

"Exactly. However, in Roman beliefs, the more you run away from your destiny, the faster it catches up to you."

"What significance does that have?"

"Apparently, somebody that knew my dad held those beliefs. He told him that to warn him. I guess it came true."

"I guess so. But that doesn't answer my question, Anderson."

Fex smirked. Taylor called to them.

"Hey guys! Get on the chopper! We're leaving!"

Fex started walking toward the chopper. Rapter put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"What?" Fex asked, annoyed.

"A transport is going to be dropping your mobile suit into the secret hanger near Paris along with Howie's leo. You do have the card key to start it up, right?"

Fex took his card key out of one of his pocket's and waved it in Rapter's face.

"All right, then."

They got on the helicopter. It took off, heading to Paris, France.

Virgil stared at his newest creation. It was perfect, or so he thought. It was a giant white cylinder attached to the ceiling of his shack. He had a lever with which he could raise or lower it. The bottom could generate extreme heat, kind of like those cigarette lighters found in cars, which he could control with the settings on his control panel. Below the cylinder, was a grill plating. So if any living thing was caught in between, it would be just like a barbeque...

"Virgil!" He heard the voice beckoning to him from the entrance of his shack. He turned around and saw The General's head sticking through the opening to the door. "It's time to go. Get your things." He pulled his head out of the door opening.

Virgil get his pack out of the corner, turned the lights off, and left the shed.

It felt almost like the flight had just started, but they had arrived in Paris. Or, just outside of it, to be precise. The pilot opened the cargo door.

"Okay guys. Go! Go!"

The J.T.M.S. members were in a small jeep loaded with supplies that had been packed into the cargo section of the helicopter. Rapter put the jeep in reverse and pulled out of the helicopter. Then he waited for the chopper to close it's door and pull away. And they got to see Paris for the first time...

"Wow... what an ugly fucking place..." Lee commented. Rapter threw the car into ignition.

"Well, Treize did say the Rebels wrecked the place."

"But look at this place! It's completely war torn!"

"Look! They even toppled the Eiffel tower!" Fex pointed out.

As they got closer to the city, the destruction left by the Rebels became more apparent. Entire city blocks had been destroyed. Rubble was everywhere...

Rapter pointed at something out to the left. It appeared to be the secret bunker.

"That's where Fex and Howies' mobile suits are going to be. The transport just hasn't dropped them off yet. Commit it to memory."

Chris pulled something out of his pack. It was a CD player. He started listening to it just as they entered the city. He was listening to some heavy metal band. As they got deeper into the city, he kept on looking at Rapter to make sure he didn't notice and turned it up. Eventually, though, Rapter heard the music. He reached back and ripped the headphones right off of Chris's head and threw them out into the city.

"HEY!"

"WARDROBE MALFUNCTION!" Rapter laughed.

"You know that I'm going to go find that later, right, Rapter?"

"Fine! Go ahead, I don't care."

They reached the designated building. It was a six story building with the front almost completely blown out. They could see many half-naked soldiers sitting around tiny fires. The place was just in really bad shape. They pulled up front and started unloading boxes.

"Damn, this place is a mess..." Howie said.

They came walking through the front door. The soldiers greeted them with applause.

"Oh, thank you... thank you..." Lee said jokingly.

One soldier came up to Rapter.

"Thank god you're here. Leave the supplies here."

"Doc., treat these guys." Rapter ordered, pointing at the injured. It was like he hadn't even heard the other soldier.

"Right! I'll get to it, right quick!"

Rapter put his box down. Then he looked at the soldier. "Where's your CO(commanding officer)?"

"That would be Major Tom, sir. He's up on the third floor."

"Show us to him. Doc., stay here. Keep treating the wounded."

"Right, sir!"

Lee patted Doc. on the shoulder when he passed him.

"See ya' later, pal."

They walked up two flights of stairs then turned to one of the side rooms. The soldier leading them peeked through the curtains.

"Major?"

A tiny light flickered on in the dark of the room. It came up and rested at one spot.

"Come in." Said a muffled voice from inside. The soldier opened the curtains all the way. The person behind them was a young, gruff, brown haired man reading a field manual and smoking a just barely lit cigarette. He waved the cigarette lighter out.

"Major Tom?" Rapter asked.

The man shook his head. "Depends on whose asking. If you're not the calvary, I don't want a fucking thing to do with ya'."

"Well... Yeah, we're the calvary."

The man grinned. "Well, then, yeah, I am Major Tom." He pointed at the guy who had led them to him. "Soldier, get Garry, Firenze, and Tina."

"Yes, sir!" The soldier went searching.

"Since you're the calvary, you must have brought me something." Tom assumed. "What did you bring me?"

"We've brought 100 assorted small arms, with a combined amount of 5,000 of ammunition."

"Okay. I've had to limit my men to one magazine each after the attack. What else?"

"We brought 250 grenades with us."

"Excellent! Among us, we currently have a total of three grenade. That's all."

"Our doctor has enough medical supplies for fifty men."

"That's roughly about our numbers..."

"And enough food to last us six months. If we need to, we can stretch it to last four times that long. We also brought a missile launcher with four shells, and our transports are going to be dropping some mobile suits into the hanger during the night, so we should be set for a assault with mobile suits."

"Good, good... My men could use the food. We've been prioritizing our limited food supply for the injured. The able bodied soldiers are getting this gross, mucky shit. It has maggots in it..."

The soldier came back with one guy.

"Oh! Garry! These are our reinforcement's!"

"Really?" Garry said. "I'm _so _thrilled."

Tom chuckled nervously. "Sorry about Garry. He's never enthusiastic about anything." Tom looked around. "Where's Firenze and Tina?"

"They're... um..."

"Doing it?"

"By doing it..." Rapter asked. "Do you mean...?"

There was pounding sound from upstairs and dust trickled down from the ceiling. There was woman screaming "OH, YES!". Some of the guys looked up and smirked.

"Ohhhhhh..." Rapter exclaimed. "So _that's _what you mean..."

"Yep. They're always 'doing it'. Let's go, we're gonna' need to slow them down."

As they climbed up the stairs, the pounding became much more intense and the cries became louder. Tom reached the top of the stairs. He gave his men a wry smile. Then he flung the curtains open.

"GET SOME DAMN CLOTHS ON, GUYS!" Tom's men started cheering and laughing and making whistling sounds. Firenze and Tina huddled up in a corner, embarrassed. Tom started back down the stairs.

"It's okay, let them be embarrassed. They need to learn that every minute is not for fucking. We don't have time for this. I need to show you something."

Later, they went on patrol of the city. Everybody was there, Tom, Garry, Firenze, Tina, and the members of the J.T.M.S. After a quick tour of the city, Tom stopped in front of a tunnel. It appeared that there were lights in the tunnel.

"This, you guys..." Began Tom. "Is the Underground. Never, ever go there. Some of my men went there. They never came back."

"What's down there?" Kat asked. Tom looked at her.

"Bad people." He answered. Then he looked back at the tunnel into the Underground.

In your review, tell me what you think Fex was really thinking when he killed Dog man, tell me what you think the Underground really is, and most of all, tell me what you think of the mood I've set in the story so far.


	11. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 10

This is my tenth chapter! Hope you like it! Oh yeah, I own Gundam the Dark era, not any of the other Gundams.

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 10:

Paris... city of love, violence, and a computer program:

Fex was poking his food. He wasn't feeling good. He was probably on the edge of a battle he couldn't escape and wasn't getting any more reinforcements than they already had. He was probably going to have to kill again... maybe even his own comrades, if that's what it took...

It sounded like Tina and Firenze were going at it again. Tom hunched over his food to keep dust from falling in it. He was really hungry.

"HEY, GUYS!" Tom shouted. "I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE HAVING FUN, BUT I'M EATING HERE! IT'S MY FIRST DECENT MEAL IN TWO MONTHS! DON'T MAKE ME TAKE AWAY YOUR SEX PRIVILEGES!"

There was an short silence. Everybody who hadn't been eating before started eating to fill the void. There was a quiet rustling noise from one of the rooms. Nobody really paid any mind to it. Then out of nowhere Tom said. "Ramirez?"

"Yes?" Answered a squirrelly voice. The person the voice belonged to had just left Fex's room.

"HEY!" Fex yelled. "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?"

"Fex, calm down..." Rapter instructed.

"Yeah, calm down, man." Tom seconded. "Ramirez, you're not supposed to go snooping around in other people's stuff."

"But... but..."

"Ramirez, don't worry. These guys are friends of mine."

"Okay..."

"You didn't take any of his stuff, did you?"

Fex glared at Ramirez. "YOU BETTER NOT HAVE!"

"FEX! SHUT UP!" Rapter snapped.

"No... I didn't take any of his stuff..."

"Good. Carry on, soldier." Tom and Ramirez saluted each other and Ramirez left. "Don't worry about him. He's always paranoid. Keeps on saying that double agents are everywhere."

"Damn guy better not have taken any of my stuff..." Fex mumbled. "I'm gonna go check to make sure nothings gone." Fex went into his room.

Rapter picked up the battle map. "Tom, what's our battle plan if the Rebels come back?"

Rapter handed the map to Tom. "Well. We're going to be positioning tandems of snipers and support gunners in strategic sites in the rubble to funnel the enemy where we want them. Open areas, basically. Did you see that clock tower on the way in?"

"Nope."

"Well, we're gonna' put a sniper there to pick off the enemy once they're open. I'm gonna' focus most of my rifle action at the base of this building, just so if the enemy gets this far, we'll have a distraction to evacuate the wounded. They're not gonna' get that far though... And just in case we really have trouble, we should have your mobile suits soon. That should hold against just about anything."

"What did they throw at you last time?"

"Mostly infantry. There was some armor mixed in there."

Fex came out of his room.

"Bastard didn't steal anything."

"Good."

Howie stood up.

"I'm done eating."

"Are you leaving now?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah. I gotta' go do something." Howie left. Tom looked back toward the center of the group.

"I wanna' get back to eating now."

Howie was walking down the Paris streets. He had seen an intact payphone earlier. He needed to call somebody. He passed the entrance to the Underground and sneered. The place looked pathetic to him...

Finally, he found the payphone. But he had no change. It was okay. He could remedy that. He took a knife out and tore the cash machine open. He picked up some euro and put them in. Then he dialed a number...

...And then heard a voice he had not heard in a long time.

"Who the hell is this?" The voice asked. Howie actually smirked at the sound of this voice.

"Hello, Peter."

Peter was silent for a while.

"Howie? Is that you?"

"Glad to hear your voice again, man."

"Ah, FUCK, MAN! It IS you! I could recognize that voice anywhere! Aw, man! You one crazy mother fucker, you know that?"

"You don't need to tell me that."

"Aw, man... Aw, man... Aw, man... Where the fuck are ya', man?"

"In Paris."

"Aw, man... My man, my man... So how you been doin', my man?"

"I've been better..."

"Oh, I know how ya' feelin', brother. We pretty fucked up too, ya' know? You had better times when you was with Rose, right?"

Howie growled. "Peter..."

"Oh! Oh! Sorry, my man, I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it, man."

"How did you escape from Alcatraz, man?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

"We gonna' have to meet some time."

"Yeah. Where are you, Peter?"

"I'm in the Underground."

"THE UNDERGROUND?"

"Aw... Don't worry about it man. I'm planning to leave this fuckin' shit hole anyway. I hope you have some time on your hands."

"Sure. Time is something I've got a lot of."

"That's good. Can you get to a phone every night?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'll be waiting your call every night. We really need to coordinate this. Later, dawg."

"Wait a second!"

"Huh? What is it?"

"How's Dory?"

"Dory? Ah... You mean... the kid sister?"

"Yes, man. The kid sister."

"Uh... I hate to have to say this, brother... She hates you..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It seems like everybody close to me who used to love me hates me now. It doesn't hurt my feeling's."

"Well, I feel for ya', brother. Now, don't go and get yourself killed man. That's awfully easy to do nowadays."

"I can take care of myself."

"Alright. Later, brother."

"Yeah. Later, man." He hung up the phone. He started walking back to the building.

When he reached the building, he heard yelling and screaming from inside.

Tom yelled. "RAMIREZ! CALM DOWN!"

Oh, no. Howie had a bad feeling as soon as he heard that. He rushed inside.

Ramirez had been backed into a corner. The several soldiers that had happened to be on the first floor when it had happened were keeping him at bay with rifles drawn. Not only that, but the J.T.M.S. members were there, too. Ramirez had a hostage. It was Doc.. Ramirez was holding a knife to his throat while keeping a gun pointed at the people who had surrounded him.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM! I SWEAR!"

"Now, let's not be..." Began Doc.. Ramirez tightened his grip.

"SHUT UP! I'LL KILL YA'!"

"TOM!" Howie shouted so he could be heard. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

"RAMIREZ HAS GONE INSANE!" Tom answered. Just then, Fex started yelling.

"YOU GO AND DO IT! YOU CRAZY FUCK! THE MOMENT YOU DO, I'LL FILL YOU FULL OF SO MUCH LEAD THAT YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE IN HELL! YOU CRAZY MOTHER FUCKER!"

"FEX! **_SHUT UP _**YOU STUPID FUCKING BASTARD!" Rapter yelled.

"RAMIREZ!" Tom called. "CALM DOWN! TELL US WHAT'S GOT YOU THIS WAY!"

Ramirez stared blankly at Tom for a second. Then he laughed insanely. "So, you wanna' know the truth? You wouldn't listen to me before... but you WILL listen to me now! Alright, I'll tell you. I found a spy among us... It's all documented. Go look at my computer if you want. The program is still on there. I left it on for all to see..."

Rapter elbowed Taylor. "Go get it." Taylor ran towards Ramirez's room.

"So?" Asked Garry. "Who is it?"

Ramirez chuckled. "Just who I thought it would be..." He looked up and pointed. "IT'S THAT FEX ANDERSON! I KNEW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIM! I COULD TELL HE WAS A SPY JUST BY THE WAY HE ACTED WHEN HE REALIZED I HAD BEEN IN HIS ROOM! SO I ACTED LIKE I REALLY HADN'T TAKEN ANYTHING!..."

"So you really DID TAKE SOMETHING! WHAT DID YOU TAKE?"

"WHY THE PRECIOUS DISK DOCUMENTING ALL THE ILLEGAL TRANSACTIONS YOU MADE TO THE REBEL GOVERNMENT! THAT'S WHAT!"

Fex looked confused. Or at least, he acted confused... "Disk...?"

"DON'T PLAY INNOCENT WITH US! YOUR SIGNATURE WAS ON THERE! IT HAD A TOUCH-PAD SIGNATURE THAT MATCHES YOURS! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THE TRANSACTIONS WERE CARRIED THROUGH YOUR CHANNELS! BANK ACCOUNTS, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS, EVERYTHING! NOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOURSELF, MR. ANDERSON?"

Fex lowered his gun and looked down at the floor. Kat asked him. "Fex... Is this true?"

He didn't answer.

Tom tried to calm Ramirez. "Ramirez, we're gonna' talk about this. Calm down. Let Doc. go."

Ramirez had the look of a crazed animal in his eye's. Slowly, he let Doc. out of his death grip. Once that was done, there was still one thing that had to be done.

"Ramirez..." Tom said in a soothing voice. "Let your weapons go..."

You could see the trapped feeling in Ramirez's eyes'. He felt totally screwed.

"Ramirez... Let your weapon's go... They're not gonna' need them right now. Please. You don't need 'em..."

Ramirez gritted his teeth. But it wasn't an angry teeth gritting, it was as if he was scared. He dropped the knife and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Ramirez..." Tom continued. "Your gun. You forgot to..."

Very quickly, Ramirez raised his gun and shot Fex. Fex's world went into slow motion. He fell backwards. His head came lurching back. He saw Tom raising his pistol. A tear ran down his cheek. He didn't hear it, but Tom fired. Poor guy... It must have been hard for him...

Fex felt arms wrapping around his body to break his fall. His back landed on the floor. He felt Kat's chest propping his head up. He could see Ramirez. Dead. Tom had shot him right through the eyeball, and the bullet had gone all the way through his head. His eyeball was on the floor in front of him. Kat was laying her head on Fex's. Fex felt like she was talking to him, but he couldn't hear her.

"Hello? Are you awake?"

The voice swam around in his head, searching for some sort of reaction.

"Doc., are you sure there was a spike in heart rate this morning? We've been here half an hour."

"I'm bloody sure of it! I'm sure I saw a spike!"

"Don't be wasting our time, Doc.."

"I'm not wasting your bloody time!"

"Look! He's right, Taylor! I just saw a spike! Look! There's another!"

"Well, I'll be damned..."

"Fex! Can you hear us?"

Who is that? Fex...

Fex woke up with a splitting headache. He rubbed his head and sat up. Doc., Rapter, and Taylor were sitting in front of him.

"Doc., leave us. We need to chat with him." Doc. left and shut the curtain behind him. Rapter lit a cigarette and grinned. "Do you know how long you've been out, Fex?"

Fex shook his head. "No."

"You've been out for a day and a half. You've had visitors." Rapter informed him, pointing at the pile of cigarette packs. "They have been fruitful and have left many gifts."

"Hah. Somehow, I still don't feel like a god." Fex said, taking a cigarette and lighting it. He took a puff and pointed at Rapter. "Where's my stuff?"

"Don't worry. It's right over there." Rapter pointed into the corner. Fex's backpack was there. "Satisfied?"

Fex nodded. "Yeah. I don't want anyone snooping around in my stuff anymore." Fex looked at Rapter. "So, are you here to beat the living shit out of me?"

Rapter shook his head. "No. That gunshot wound will be enough for now. But... we did take a look at that computer program Ramirez took from your room..."

"SO?" Fex snapped. Rapter gave him an odd look.

"Fex, do you really realize how incriminating this document is? Fex, this document could make you eligible for treason!"

Fex spat out his cigarette. "Wh- wh- WHAT?"

Rapter spun a lab top around. "Take a good look at it, Fex. It's exactly as Ramirez had described. There's your signature, Fex... RIGHT THERE! IT MATCHES YOURS PERFECTLY!"

Fex was very confused. "It is..."

"We've traced the channels... They ALL are yours, Fex. Tell me you didn't know about this document!"

"I... don't... I swear, someone planted that!"

"Someone PLANTED it? Highly unlikely! Fex, this whole thing matches perfectly to you. YOU HAD BETTER COME CLEAN!"

Fex shifted to his side. He started enjoying his cigarette again. "I'm not saying any more."

Rapter was left a bit short. "Come on, Taylor. Let's go." They left Fex to his own devices.

That night, Fex came for dinner. Everybody was glad to see him, except for Garry, Kat, and Howie. They all gave him parts of their rations and more cigarettes. They laughed and were merry. Firenze and Tina fed each other. Howie was frowning. He leaned over and whispered something really quick and quiet in Kat's ear, then left. Kat sat with the group for a little while longer, then left and followed Howie.

Howie was sitting in his room with his arm's crossed when Kat came in.

"Well, Howie? What is it you want to talk to me about?"

Howie pounded the floor. "You know what I fucking want to talk to you about! It's Anderson!"

"What about him, Howie?"

"You love him, that's what! I could tell by the way you dove to catch him when Ramirez shot him! But, Kat... just now you seemed like you were indifferent to the fact that he was back! Kat, if you love somebody, you need to show that love! Not all people are as bad as I am! Kat... what I'm trying to say is... go after what you want."

"... Okay. But if I'm going to do something, I want you to do something."

"What?"

"Apologize. Apologize to all the people you hurt... starting with me."

"All right." Howie took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Kat. I'm sorry for hurting you..."

Without warning, Kat slapped him.

"Ouch! Hey! What was THAT for! I apologized, didn't I?"

Kat walked out of the room. "I never said, I'd forgive you, did I?"

That was right. She hadn't mentioned forgiveness. But now Howie knew who he had to apologize to next...

...he had to apologize to Dory... But he wasn't going to do that today... he would have to do that when he met with Peter.

The next day, they were conducting patrols in downtown Paris. Tom led the group to the bell tower.

"This is our main sniping point for our defense against the counter attack. When and if the counter attack comes, we'll put a sniper here to help dwindle down the enemy's numbers."

Garry began filling in the details that they didn't need to know. "On a clear day, the view from up there will easily exceed 5000 meters sight distance. The maximum range of our .50 cal. sniper rifles is 2000 meters, tops. The..."

Firenze started talking to Howie during the lecture.

"Boring, isn't he, man?"

Howie waved his hand. "I don't care."

"Hey, you're the infamous Howie, right? The guy who has escaped Alcatraz and fucked a thousand women? Bet you never fucked a girl like Tina."

Howie took his canteen and took a sip. He took the time to swallow and screwed the cap back on. Then he looked at Firenze and gave him a wry smile.

"I think I fucked Tina..."

"WHAT?"

After the patrol was finished, they returned back to their building and started preparing for dinner early. There was something different about this afternoon's about dinner, though. It felt as if it was the first really good and productive day the J.T.M.S. members had since they had been reassigned here. Everybody was in a good mood. They could see good things happening in the horizon. Tom was actually sharing some of his more amusing incidents in the military. He was a well-liked and respected leader, and it was easy to see why. He had a good attitude, a great sense of humor, and he really cared about the well-being of his men. It was obvious the fact that he had to kill Ramirez affected him...

After dinner, Howie broke away from the comradery that had formed amongst the men. He had to call Peter...

When he dialed in the number, Peter immediately picked up the phone. He didn't even bother with a customary hello, he just immediately said. "Howie, go to the entrance to the Underground. There's someone there to meet you." Then he hung up.

Howie had no choice. He had to meet with this person just as Peter had said. So he went to the tunnel that led to the Underground. Just in front, there was a guy who had the nerve to wear a tie decimated city. He approached Howie.

"You must be Howie. Come. Peter wants to see you." The guy started leading Howie into the Underground.

It was dark in the Underground for a second, then they turned a corner and there were flashing neon lights. It surprised Howie.

"What the...?"

"Huh. Wasn't expecting that, were you? I guess you've never been down here. You see, the only thing we have down here besides slums are casinos and bars. You can anything that would be considered illegal 'up there' down here, in the Underground."

The initial shock of the bright lights wore off for Howie. The neon lights were highlighting a bar.

"People like to party hard down here, don't they?"

"Yep'. That's pretty much all they do."

Howie heard footsteps behind them. He spun around quick and whipped out his .45's. Several assault rifle barrels bunched up in his face. The other guy had kept on walking, but when he heard the rifles clicking he turned around and laughed.

"Don't worry about them, Howie! They're our escort!"

Howie scowled. "I can take care of myself."

"Well deal with it."

"Fine. It doesn't mean I have to like it."

They walked through the Underground and made their way to Peter's hideout. Inside the hideout, the air was thick with smoke. Peter's men were checking and cleaning assault rifles for some reason.

"Howie..." The guide said, trying to get his attention. "Peter is this way." He pointed at the door across the hall.

"Good. I'm going."

"But, Howie, you just can't go..."

Howie had already gone through the door, so it was useless now. Howie was staring at dull, orange light filtering through shades in columns. Was it possible this was the sunset?...

A familiar, raspy voice said. "Typical of you just to barge in like that." Howie looked down, and he saw Peter sitting in his chair, smoking a cigar. It had to be Peter, he had the distinctive dread locks.

"Nice to see you again, Peter."

"How's ya' doin', buddy?"

"You already know that. How about asking something you don't know?"

"Hm. Never thought about that one."

"How's your life going, Peter? You haven't died yet from all the smoking you do, obviously."

"Yeah. I can't die from smoking. It's like a family tradition, ya' know?"

"Yeah, man, I know. Have you found a woman yet?"

"Nah. And from the way things are lookin' right now, it don't look like I'll find one, neither. Love's a one shot deal. You know that all too well, my man."

"Yeah. What are your guys planning on doing, Peter?"

Peter leaned back in his chair. "They're planning to go to their deaths."

"...Uh...Are you serious? Why? Don't you guys still have a lot to live for?"

"Not anymore." Peter said in a solemn voice. "Man, I'm gonna' retire from this trade real soon. When that happens, they won't have anywhere else to go. If they go to fight and die, then they will have no more sorrow..."

"Have you gone insane, Peter? You've gotta'..."

"Wait, Howie. I have another reason."

"Let's hear it."

Peter fisted his hand. "My kid sister... she was murdered... with no apparent reason... by somebody in the Rebel organization... I had sent somebody in there a while ago... he witnessed the murder... when he reported back to me... he reported that her death was unnecessarily cruel and violent... I can't bring myself to go over details... But... the man who murdered her... you know him in the Alliance as general H. H. Ashton senior... or the 'Black Ghost'... it is my wish... to take his life myself..."

"Peter! Don't do it!"

"Howie..."

"Don't you know what this guy is like? There's no possible way you could come out of this fight alive!"

"Howie..." Howie stopped for a second to listen to Peter. "He killed... murdered... my kid sister... Why? Just for the fucking hell of it." Howie realized then that he couldn't stop Peter from going to battle. He lost the momentum. Not only in his argument, but in his whole body...

"Yes..." Peter said, half spoken, half sighed. " I know that face. That's the face you make when you know you've lost an argument. You know that if someone killed one of your kid sister like that, then you'd do the same thing. I know, our mind's are like one." Peter shifted gears. "We've got a private airport down here. We're gonna' send our women and children out that way tomorrow. See if you can speak with Dory before then."

Howie couldn't take it anymore. He knew his friend, Peter, was going to die. Mentally, he was about ready to explode. He couldn't show it physically. He had to get out of there...

As he walked from the room, he heard Peter call to him. "Good bye, my dear friend, Howie. May we meet again in whatever heaven or afterlife we truly call home."

Howie walked out of the hideout. You could tell by his face that something was wrong, but nothing more. Howie felt the urge to stop. He felt that destiny was going to guide him from here...

He felt arms wrapping around his neck. He didn't panic. In fact, the arms wrapping around his neck didn't feel like a chock hold, it felt more like an embrace. It was then that Howie figured out who it was.

"Dory..." He said softly. She turned him to face her. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he did, Dory slapped him.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR MAKING US, THE PEOPLE WHO CARED ABOUT YOU, WATCH YOU DETERIORATE AND LEAVE US LIKE THAT! DO YOU KNOW HOW PAINFUL THAT WAS? IT WAS PAINFUL FOR ME ESPECIALLY! NOT ONLY DID I LOVE YOU AND CARE ABOUT YOU, BUT I KNOW ROSE WOULD NOT LIKE TO SEE YOU DETERIORATE LIKE THAT! SHE WOULD HAVE HATED IT!"

"Well, I DIDN'T CARE! WHEN I LOST YOUR SISTER, DORY, I HAD NOTHING ELSE! I LOST IT! I BECAME AN ANIMAL FOLLOWING MY PRIMAL INSTINCT'S! I DID NOT GIVE A FUCK HOW ANY OF YOU FELT ABOUT THAT!"

Dory got mad and stomped a few feet away. "I hate you now... But... I still want you around tonight."

Howie laughed and walked up behind Dory. "Is that an invitation to have sex with you? You've got it all wrong, Dory. I'M the one who decides that! ME!"

She turned around and faced him. "Why you son-of-a..."

"But..." Howie continued. "I could ask one favor of you. You see the cloths I'm wearing, Dory? They look pretty shitty, don't they, Dory?"

That comment made Dory laugh. "Yes..."

"Good. You can sow them up and get the blood stains out, can't you?"

"Yes..."

"Good. Let's go to your room then."

When they got into her room, Howie started taking his cloth's off. When Howie took off his shirt, Dory noticed scars on his back.

"When did you get those?" She asked.

"A long time ago..." He answered. "Before you even knew me..."

The scars were scary to Dory. They were all jagged and rough. She still got the nerve to touch them. She brushed them with her hand. Howie gave an angry look back at her. She pulled her hand away. Howie removed his suspender and Dory nearly jumped at the fact that he had no underpants on.

"AH! YOU'RE NAKED! I'M SORRY! I'LL LOOK AWAY!"

"No, don't worry about it. I'm used to people seeing me naked. Not just people I'm having sex with." He said, very unashamedly.

She took his suspenders and set them on the table next the sowing machine. Then she took a look at Howie. He was looking around at his environment. He still had one piece of clothing on. His bandanna. She came up to him and tried to take it off. He stopped her.

"Don't."

"Hey, don't you want to take your bandanna off?"

"I never take my bandanna off."

"Never?"

"Never."

She took a step back, looking puzzled. "I'm gonna' get to the sowing."

"Is that a balcony?" Howie asked, pointing at the area where sunlight was seeping in.

"Yeah, actually it is. It juts out of the earth where a hill is at a ninety degree angle."

"Can go take a look?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, and Dory? I'm sorry for all the problems I caused."

"Sure thing! Don't mention it!"

Dory got to sowing, and Howie went onto the balcony.

Howie was staring at the sunset. It was a black sunset. It was a sign of bad things to come after the good things. If there was to be any good things for Howie, he would have to get to it.

Dory was sowing up the hole in the suspenders. She was kind of pissed off that he was having her do this for him. But... she was glad that she got to see him again. Getting to see him naked was a bonus. She wasn't used to seeing guys naked...

She heard the floors creak behind her. Howie put his arm's around her neck. He began kissing her neck. He worked his hand down and undid the top button on her shirt. Dory blushed when he did this, but she forced herself not to be embarrassed. After all, this was kind of what she wanted...

She put his arm around his stomach and threw him down on the floor. From there she forced her way on top of him. She kissed him on the lips just to seal the fact that this was just for fun. Howie raised an eyebrow.

"Hm... This will not work at all..."

Howie burst upward, catching Dory on his shoulder. "THIS WILL WORK BETTER!" He declared triumphantly. He started running around and finally threw Dory on her bed. When she was about to get back up, Howie jumped on top of her.

At the same time, Fex had snuck into the secret hanger. The mobile suits were covered by giant sheets. Useless, he thought.

"Hello." Said a timid voice from behind him. This surprised Fex and he spun around quickly with his hand on his gun. It was Kat.

"What are you doing? How and why did you follow me?"

"I hid in the back of the jeep. You're really not too surprised that you woke somebody up, are you?"

Fex shook his head. "Why did you follow me?"

"I haven't seen this place yet and I wanted to see it. But I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed."

"Any other reasons?" Fex asked.

Kat came closer. "Yes. I don't feel comfortable at that place. I don't feel like we have enough privacy..."

"What would you want privacy for?"

Kat put her arms around his shoulders. "I love you. Do you need any other reason?"

Fex rested his forehead on hers. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes..."

Fex turned and looked up at the covered mobile suits. "Let's uncover these, shall we?"

"Why?"

Fex looked at Kat and grinned. "It's gonna' come down anyways. Besides, we can use it for other things."

They took up positions on either side of the sheet. Fex started counting down. "3, 2, 1, PULL!"

They both tugged on the sheet. It worked and the sheet came floating down from the top. When it reached the floor, it covered both Fex and Kat where they couldn't see each other. They started crawling around and calling each other's name.

"Fex! Where are you?"

"I'm right here!" He teased.

"Where?" She called. She didn't realize it, but Fex had snuck up behind her. He picked her up and started running around with her under the sheet.

"GOT'CHA'!" He ran out from under the sheet. He ran around in a circle with Kat slung over his shoulder.

"LET ME GO!" She insisted.

"NO! I'M HAVING FUN!" Fex quipped back.

"LET ME GO!" She repeated. "IF YOU DON'T, I'LL TAKE EVERYTHING I SAID TO YOU BACK!"

Fex slowed down and let Kat off his shoulder. "Alright, you win." Kat smiled, hugged Fex and kissed him. But he was not returning the kiss.

"Gonna' need more incentive, are we? Fine." She took a step back and took her shirt off. "How's that?" She kissed him again, and this time he went all the way. This escalated to the point where they started ripping each other's cloth's off.

Howie lay awake in bed. He was watching Dory sleep peacefully. Her tiny body heaving the sheets up and down. He reached out and stroked her hair. Then he turned over on his back and remembered the good old days. They were so much like this...

Fex and Kat were laying under the sheets staring at each other and laughing. They were happy to be with each other. It didn't matter if they were in a war or not. They were together...

"We better keep track of time..." Fex said. "We don't want Rapter to find out what we've been doing."

"Don't worry, we've got a few more hours until sunrise. Besides, we should enjoy the time we have together..."

"Agreed..." Fex crawled over and kissed Kat. Then he reached up and rummaged through his cloths.

"What are you looking for?"

"My watch."

"Oh...

"Ah! There it is!" He held a shiny, silver watch. "It's... 1:13 A.M.."

"That's good. We have time."

"No... actually, we don't..."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I heard Rapter talking to Tom about doing check ups at 2:00 A.M. just to make sure everybody was there. I know he trusts Howie to be gone, but if he finds that we're both gone, he's gonna' be suspicious. He would suspect that we were doing something more serious than what we're actually doing, alright? I wanna' keep us both out of trouble."

"Alright. I understand..."

They started putting their cloths back on. Kat looked up at Fex and said. "Fex? You know when I said that life was just an endless cycle of war and death and insanity and that there was no possible way to end it?"

"Uh-huh. Why?"

She smiled. "Maybe we _can _end it. At least I feel like we can. _We _can. You and me together can do this."

Fex smiled in return to Kat. "I love you, girl..."

The next morning, Dory woke up to the sound of chirping birds. And the morning sun coming in through the shades...

...And Howie laying in the bed beside her. His eyes were wide open, staring right at her.

"Hey..." Dory started, playing with Howie's bandanna. "What's a handsome guy like you doing in my bed?"

"Stalking you." He answered. Dory laughed.

"Well, then, I don't mind you stalking me. But you do have to go soon. Our plane leaves at noon."

"You mean... the plane Peter scheduled for the women and children?"

"Yes! Now get going!"

"No! I won't!" Howie jumped on top of Dory.

"Ah! Howie! Get off of me!"

"No! I won't let you go!"

"Howie, I have to go. It's not an option for me. Now get off of me. It's not funny anymore."

"Yes, it is!" He started tickling Dory. "Stay with me! I command you!"

"Now you just sound completely stupid. Let me go." She tried to get out from under him, but he just jumped onto her back. "Howie..."

"Stay..."

"...I can't..."

"Okay... Let me take you to the airport then."

"Hmm... I don't know... Should I or should I not?..."

"Come on, Dory! Don't torture me!"

"OH! But it's FUN!"

"PLEASE?... I love you..."

"Alright! I'll let you walk me to the airport! No problem!" Dory hopped off the bed and towards the closet. "But we should get dressed first, agreed? I finished sowing up your cloths." She said, pointing towards the table. The cloths that Howie had stolen from the pirate were there, now completely intact. But Howie could feel something in his bone's. He could feel something coming. And coming soon...

They had gotten dressed and had gone to the Underground airport. Howie and Dory said their goodbyes'. Dory gave Howie a new bandanna. It was red...

"Use this to remember me by... and to remember last night..."

"Dory..."

"Living in the past with Rose's death isn't going to get you anywhere, Howie. You need to..."

"Let me guess... forget about Rose..."

"No, don't forget about her. Just don't let her death dictate your life from here on. You need to start a clean slate... With newer, happier experiences. You can use this to mark a merrier era in your life and to put away the sadness in you. Tell you what..." Dory ripped Howie's old bandanna from off of his head.

"HEY!" Dory lit his old bandanna on fire with a lighter and threw it away. Then she closed Howie's hands on the new one.

"Put it on. Don't forget me, and don't forget that I love you..." She kissed Howie and walked toward the airplane. "Good-bye..."

Howie stood there, staring at his new bandanna. Maybe Dory was right...

Then something flashed in his mind. Something... some memory was trying to make it's way back to him. The memory flashed in his mind again. It was too quick to make it out though. He had some idea that it had relevance now. It flashed again. This time the interval between flashes was shorter. The image then began flashing rapidly, then forming a solid image. And he remembered where it was from. It was when he had escaped from Alcatraz and had seen that vision...

Dory got onto the plane...

Now Howie understood...

"DORY! **NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!**"

"KA-**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**"

A massive explosion enveloped the plane and threw Howie up against a wall. Howie then hit the ground. His back was hurting. Debris came and hit him in the chest. His chest started hurting...

...And so was his heart...

"...No..."

...He started crying...

"Get your rations! Get your nice, tasty, rations here!" Tom called, ringing the proverbial dinner bell. "Get 'em here!"

There was a line of good spirited soldiers lining up for a good meal. Though there were the occasional Rapters, exclaiming. "This tastes like shit..."

But, for the most part, people were happy to be fed that day. In fact, most of the men there were just plain happy. Probably the happiest of them all were Fex and Kat, who were standing the back, holding hands...

Fex looked out the window. To his surprise, he saw Howie approaching. He looked somewhat changed. He had a new bandanna. It was an even longer one, and it was bright red. He looked pissed off, but for some new, different reason. His cloth's were like new. Strange, because Fex remembered the last time he had seen Howie, those cloths looked like shit. Howie had the old dark look in his eye's that he had always had, but it was darker now...

He walked in through the front door. Kat noticed him.

"Howie!" She whispered to him, trying to get his attention. He wasn't paying attention to her. He shot a quick, dark glance at Fex. Somehow Fex knew that Howie was gesturing to follow him. Howie walked towards one of the side rooms. Fex started to follow him. Kat grabbed his arm, though.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm sorry Kat. I wanna' see what Howie is up to." He slipped away from Kat's grasp and followed Howie into the room.

At first, Howie was facing away from Fex.

"What happened, Howie?" Fex asked.

Howie shook his head. "The end of my humanity..." Howie answered. "I lost something very dear to me, sergeant Anderson. Do you know how that feels? Don't answer that. I already know that you have. But I knew it was going to happen, and what did I do? I let it happen." Howie turned and faced Fex. "And you know what else? Though I fortunately am unable to witness it, a dear friend of mine is surely going to die soon. THAT I also could have prevented. So, guess what I'm gonna' do?"

Fex had no idea. Thinking of the possibilities scared him.

Howie ripped his knife out of it's sheath. "Now, I want you to watch this, Fex, no matter how difficult it is..." Howie took his knife and dug it into his own arm. "Fex, I want you to swear over this blood that the next time I let something terrible happen to one of my friends, I will die..." Howie started dragging the blade across his arm. "Kill me if you have to..." Fex could barely hear him. He was just concentrating on the scraping noise of the blade and the blood coming out of his arm...

One week later...

Fex, Rapter, and Tom were coming back from a patrol. The clouds had come back again and it was overcast above Paris.

There was a lot of commotion on the first floor when they came back. All three of the returning patrollers took their patrol gear off and put the stuff where it was supposed to be. When Fex took a look, he found out that, surprisingly, Kat was the center of attention. It appeared as if she was trading something with the soldiers. Fex edged his way up to her. She seemed surprised to see him.

"Fex! I thought you were on patrol!"

"We came back early. The weather isn't looking to great, so we're going to sit back and see what it does... By the way, Kat, what are you doing?"

"I'm, uh... trading with these soldiers."

"Um-hum. And what are you trading?"

"I'm... ah, don't get mad at me..."

"You're being silly. Why would I be mad at you? What are you trading?"

"I'm trading cigarettes."

"Ha! I thought you didn't have any cigarettes!"

"Well... they're _your_ cigarettes..."

It was then that Fex's demeanor changed completely.

"WHY? WHAT COULD POSSESS YOU TO TRADE _MY _CIGARETTE'S FOR SOMETHING ELSE?"

"Fex, calm down..."

"HOW COULD I? YOU'RE TRADING _MY _CIGARETTE'S! HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING WITH ME JUST TO GET MY CIGARETTE'S? YOU WHORE!"

"Fex, you're being unreasonable..."

"THE FUCK I AM! NO! NO! I JUST FIGURED OUT WHY YOU'RE SLEEPING WITH ME!" Fex grabbed Kat's arm and grabbed it hard enough to make it hurt. Then he whispered harshly into her ear. "Rapter's making you sleep with me to catch me make a wrong move. The fact that you get to have sex is just the icing on the cake. You're trying to catch _me _do something wrong so that Rapter will let you off the hook for a little while."

"Fex, you're hurting my arm..."

"You know something else? You'd probably go on and have sex with Rapter right after that, too."

"No... Fex, I slept with you because I love you..."

"LIAR!" Fex let go of her arm and slapped her. She fell to the floor and looked up at Fex, shocked. Fex looked down on her for a second, unforgiving, unsympathetic. Then he noticed that he had created a scene. He headed for the door. Just as he was leaving, he turned around, put both of his middle finger's up and screamed. "FUCK ALL OF YOU!" Then he walked out the door. He left everybody in the room staring after him.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?" Howie asked, exploding out of one of the rooms. He saw that Kat was on the floor. "What happened to her?"

Rapter shrugged. "Fex started yelling at her for some reason and then he slapped her. I don't know why."

Howie knelt down next to Kat. "Are you okay?" Kat looked up at him and nodded, but Howie could see a big red mark on her cheek where he had slapped her.

"That son-of-a-bitch... I'M GONNA' KILL HIM!" Howie stormed towards the front door, but Rapter and Taylor held him back.

"NO! HOWIE, HE'S NOT MENTALLY STABILE RIGHT NOW! IF YOU GO AFTER HIM RIGHT NOW, ONE OF YOU MIGHT KILL THE OTHER!"

"SO-FUCKIN'-WHAT? THAT'S WHAT I WANT!"

"NO! HOWIE! STAY HERE! WE NEED YOU HERE! LET FEX HAVE FEW HOURS TO BLOW IT OFF!"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I WON'T GO AFTER HIM! JUST LET ME GO!" Rapter and Taylor let go of him. They were staring tensely at each other until Howie went to his room.

Still, regardless of what he had done to her, Kat was worried about Fex...

As she should have. Fex was going into the Underground...

The members of the J.T.M.S. got together with Firenze, Garry, Tom, and Tina at dinner to discuss what they should do about Fex.

"Where do you think he has gone?" Rapter asked.

"Who knows?" Said Tom. "He could be anywhere in the city right now."

"The fact that the city is bloody rubble doesn't help any." Doc. contributed.

"Maybe he just decided to quit." Chris said. "Maybe he just up and left."

"NO!" Kat denied. "HE WOULDN'T DO THAT! HOW COULD YOU EVEN SUGGEST THAT?"

"Yeah, Chris..." Said Lee, mockingly. "_How could you?_"

"I'm just thinking..." Continued Howie. "That he might have gone into the Underground..."

"What makes you think that, Howie?" Asked Taylor.

"I don't know, I just have a hunch. I never told you guys this, but the night that I was gone, I was in the Underground..."

"Really? What were you doing down there?"

Howie hesitated. "I was checking things out." Howie leaned back. "My idea is that if we patrol in groups down there, then we should be fine."

"What kind of group were you in when you were in there?"

"I have my sources..."

"YEAH, MAN!" Firenze shouted. "THAT MAN HAS SOURCES!"

"Firenze..." Howie said through his teeth. "Shut up..."

Firenze couldn't hear him. "I'LL VOUCH FOR THE GUY! HE HAS SOURCES!"

"OH, YEAH, BABY!" Tina joined in. "TELL 'EM LIKE IT IS!"

"Firenze..." Kat said, really quiet. "Have you been on drugs?"

A fan... a fan... moving the shadows... driving the nightmare forward...

Fex had a hangover... that was the only thing he could remember... Visiting a bar in the Underground... They didn't care who he was or how old he was... He was business...

Fex's vision was blurry. He couldn't make anything out. He was laying on the floor somewhere... No, he was laying on someone's bed. Why would he be laying in someone's bed?

He looked next to him. There was girl there... a naked girl, no less. She had dyed blue hair as well as purple jewels in her hair. Fex took into account the fact that he was drunk last night and asked himself the question... Did he have sex with this girl? Fex decided that his charade against Kat had gotten a little out of hand. Fex very carefully edged himself out of the bed...

He edged himself too much...

He fell hard off the bed, but something broke his fall. He stood up and looked. Naked lesbians were everywhere, having sex with each other. Fex wondered what kind of sick-o place this was, but it kind of scared him.

"AHHHHH! AHHHHHHHH!AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Fex felt someone come up behind him and grab his genital's. It hurt, too. Fex spun around.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

It was the girl from the bed. She was smiling...

"Why are you so nervous? Don't you like what you see?" Fex could tell she wanted him to make a comment about her body, but he wasn't about to.

"Where am I? What kind of place is this? What kind of monster are you?"

The girl's smile disappeared. "That's kind of rude. My name is Olivia, and all I ever wanted to do is make people happy! But... last night, I got some pleasure off my own." She walked up to Fex and leaned on him. She started talking in a sexual way. "You're the best. I want more of you... I want you to be all mine..."

Fex got away from her. "You're wrong. I wouldn't ever... have sex with someone like you..."

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I have it all on tape..."

"You **RECORDED **us? God, YOU ARE A FUCKING SICK-O!"

"No, I just prefer to be called the best at what I do... You're in 'The House of Male Pleasure', my dear sex kitten..."

Fex's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe this place.

"I need to get out of here... now..." He said aloud. But she refused.

"I won't allow it. Didn't you hear what I said before? You're all mine..."

"Sorry... already taken..."

"We'll see about that..." She jumped on him and knocked him back onto the bed. She was surprisingly strong. "Now, DO ME! MAKE ME HAVE THE LOUDEST AND LONGEST ORGASM EVER!" She physically took his hand's and placed them on her breast's. "YES! YOU'RE THE MAN I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!"

They were about embark on their first patrol into the Underground. Rapter and Tom were briefing the soldiers.

"We're searching for Fex Anderson!" Rapter started. "If you find him, call us on the radio and let us know. Then take him with you and finish your sweep."

Tom continued. "We're gonna' need you guys to go in groups of at least two. Make sure you don't lose each other. If you do, go find the lost party member, or members, immediately. This is important. All right, men?"

The men nodded.

"Alright, move out!"

Fex finally got his chance. Olivia had gotten tired and had fallen asleep. So Fex snuck out in that moment. But it wasn't to long until he started hearing. "Hey! Where are you, Sex Kitten?"

Kat had gotten separated from her group. So she started calling out.

"Howie! Chris! Lee! Anybody? Where are you? Fex! Where are you? I'm worried about you!" She stopped in the middle of an alleyway and started sobbing. "Anyone. Help..."

Unfortunately, the only person that could hear her was Olivia...

"Hello..." Olivia said, striding up to Kat. "What are you doing here?"

Kat started pleading with her. "Please! Have you seen a blonde haired guy? He's about 5'9", so he's pretty tall. He goes by the name Fex..."

"Hm... I don't know... Could you perhaps be speaking of Sex Kitten?"

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know if I can help you..." Olivia reached out and stroked Kat's hair. "...But there's something you can do for me..." Olivia kissed Kat, passionately.

In her mind, Kat was cursing and she was scared of being raped again. But then Olivia put her tongue in Kat's mouth, and that' when she decided that she'd had enough. Kat bit her tongue off. Olivia yelped and staggered back. Kat spat her tongue out, then whipped out her gun and her knife and pointed them at Olivia.

"You BITCH!" Olivia cried. Olivia bounded back at Kat and grabbed her arm's. She forced the gun and the knife upward. Kat fired a shot from her gun and it ricocheted off the top of the building. Olivia twisted the arm Kat was using to hold her own knife to behind her back. Olivia got behind Kat, too. Then she worked on the gun.

"I'll teach you a lesson..." She said, forcing Kat to point her own gun down at her knee. Olivia made her pull the trigger and shoot herself in the knee. Kat let out a loud cry. And the cry was heard...

"Olivia..."

Both Olivia and Kat looked up. There, where Olivia was standing when Kat first saw her, was Fex.

"Fex!" Kat called out to him.

"Fex? So that's your name is it? I prefer Sex Kitten, though... So it was you that this pathetic girl was searching for."

"Olivia..." Fex continued. "Let Kat go..."

"I think not... Oh, my Sex Kitten... Why did you have to go and put your cloth's back on? You've got a great body. Why don't you show it off?"

"Olivia..." Fex pulled out his gun. "You've got three seconds..."

"You wouldn't kill me, Sex Kitten. We're destined to be together. You can't rewrite the threads of fate. Can't you see? We're destined to..."

Blood splattered over the building walls. Olivia's body lost it's life force and released it's grip over Kat as it fell over backwards. When it let go of Kat, Kat broke out into a limp run and fell into the arm's of Fex.

"I'm sorry..." Fex whispered to Kat.

"I...I don't wanna' hear what happened between you and her... I just don't. I don't care..."

"Okay. I'm sorry for my outburst yesterday. I was overreacting. But I still want to know something. Don't worry. I won't get mad."

"What is it? I'll tell you anything."

"My cigarette's..." Fex smirked. "What were you trading them for?"

Kat put on an act for Fex and laughed. But she was really scared because of the situation she had just been in. "Peanuts..." She answered. "I was trading them for peanuts..."

"Good trade..." Fex complimented. "Good girl..."

Wow! This chapter actually beat the record recently held by chapter 4 for being the longest chapter in my story! Anyway, that's not important. Review it, that's what is important!


	12. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 11

I wish I could say 'all your base are belong to us' to Bandai, but I can't. Bandai owns Gundam. I just own the Dark Era.

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 11:

Silent war:

It was the next day. It seemed as if Fex and Kat had made up. Tom and Rapter had started formulating plans for daily patrols and said that they could have them done by the end of the week. Even into the Underground, which was a time consuming thing. So they sat idly for a while.

Chris, Lee, and Garry were sitting up on the roof. Garry was sitting on the edge of the building, peering through binoculars. Chris leaned over and whispered to his brother.

"What's he doing?" He asked.

"Supposedly, he's bird watching."

"Hm... This is boring."

"Yeah, I know."

Chris said this aloud so that Garry could hear. "Don't you think this is kind of boring?"

Garry turned his head and looked back at the two brothers. He said nothing. His face was completely emotionless. Then he turned back to watching the birds.

"Do you think I pissed him off?" Chris asked.

"I don't know. It's hard to tell."

"Do you think it's possible?"

"What are you gonna' do?"

Chris got up and picked up his shotgun. "Watch." Chris cocked a round into the chamber. Then he waited...

A little bird flew into sight. Chris pointed and led the bird. Then he fired and dropped the bird.

"HA-HA! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?"

Garry did the same thing he did before. He turned. He looked. He said nothing.

"AW, FUCK IT! I'M LEAVING! LEE! YOU COMING?"

"Nah. I'll see ya' later, bro'."

"Yeah. Later."

Howie was sitting at one end of the fifth floor watching Firenze and Tina make out at the other end of the fifth floor. He wouldn't be surprised if they started rolling over on the soldiers sleeping nearby. They were getting really into each other. They were licking each other and fondling each other...

"...Shit..." Howie mumbled to himself. He lit a cigarette.

"Hey ya', Howie..." Chris crashed next to Howie.

"Hey, Chris. How are you doing?" He asked, although he was totally uninterested in the answer.

"Bored."

"Well, watch Tina and Firenze make out." Howie suggested, pointing across the room. "That should keep you busy."

"Wow. They're not embarrassed, are they?"

"I guess as long as they're fully clothed, they're willing to try anything in front of other people."

Then they heard something new. Someone on the sixth floor was having sex. It couldn't be Firenze and Tina, they were on the fifth floor with Chris and Howie.

"What's this? Man, how many people are getting laid here?" Chris took a cigarette out and put it in his mouth.

"More than you know, Chris." Howie told him. Then he took a lighter and lit Chris's cigarette. Then he took his out and exhaled a big cloud of smoke. "More than I know, too."

"Hey..." Chris changed the subject. "... do you think that Fex is really a double agent?"

Howie waited. "Probably."

"Why?"

"Because, he has every motivation to. He fits the bill perfectly. And there's plenty of evidence against him. I can't see any reason why he wouldn't be the double agent."

"Is it possible there never was a double agent in the first place?"

Howie sighed. "Not likely. The whole transaction thing would have to have been a joke. And we don't joke around here."

"But... could there possibly be any other explanation?"

"...No..."

Chris looked away from Howie. "Fex is a comrade. And I don't like the thought of a comrade is selling us out." Chris started to walk down the stairs.

"I don't like it either. Maybe we'll find out what's really going on someday." Howie waved to Chris as he was walking down the stairs.

3 days later...

Tom and Rapter had finally finished their plan's for the patrols and this was the first day of patrolling.

Fex was stuck with Firenze and Garry patrolling the mid section of the city. They were decked out in full gear. Firenze was sent on a different route from Tina so they wouldn't sneak away, which they were prone to do before. Fex was thinking that had he been put on the same route as Kat, he would have suggested to her that they sneak away. This was just routine patrol. Nothing was gonna' happen today...

...Or so he thought...

They got a radio transmission from one of the other patrols. It was the one patrolling near the entrance of the Underground. In the Underground, but near the surface. Chris was one of the members of that patrol, and he was the one sending the transmission.

"FEX! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW! WE NEED YOUR HELP!"

Fex took charge. "LET'S GO, GUYS! WE'RE NEEDED IN THE UNDERGROUND!" Making their way to the aid of the patrol, they heard yelling and shouting. And as they got closer, they heard something else.

At the entrance to the Underground and looking in, one of the members of Chris's squad was bayoneting someone on the ground and yelling at him. Chris and the other squad member were trying to restrain him. Then he broke free again and started stabbing the guy on the ground again. He was yelling. "DIE! YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Fex cried out.

"I'M KILLING HIM!" The soldier answered. He was continuing to bayonet the guy, and his spinal cord was coming out with the guy's head. "KILL THE SON-OF-A-BITCH!" He yelled. "I'M KILLING HIM! I'M KILLING!" He continued to shout that as he stabbed the dying guy, but he gradually lost momentum. "I'm killing him... That's it... I've done it... I've killed this bald headed son-of-a-bitch..."

Fex got queasy when he noticed the fact that, yes, the dead man was bald. And he knew that Blood Curlers were all bald men. He hoped that this guy hadn't killed a Blood Curler...

Fex checked the dead man's cloths'. There were the B.C. initials stitched into the shoulder patch...

At dinner, they discussed the events of the day.

"Did you know that there was a Blood Curler unit in the Underground?" Rapter asked Tom.

"No, we had no idea. It has never shown itself out here, not even in the engagement two months ago."

"That's not like the Blood Curlers..." Taylor contributed. "Usually, when there's a battle, they run as fast as they can to it and slobber at the mouth like Pavlov's dogs'..."

"Who's Pavlov?" Chris asked.

"Ah, never mind."

"Another thing that is worth worrying about..." Said Howie. "...is why in the hell did your guy go berserk and kill the Blood Curler? There must be a reason beyond the fact that he was bald, right?"

"Maybe he singled him out because all Blood Curlers are bald." Lee suggested.

"No. Actually, that's not the reason." Doc. explained. "I issued a sanity test to him today. He has legally gone insane..."

Rapter looked over at Tom. "Tom?..."

Tom hunched over. "Not another one..."

"Tom?"

"My force... my brothers... keep on falling victim to this fate. Low morale and all... it makes me sad..."

"'The lucky ones die in battle...'" Howie started. "'And the survivors fade out in insanity or despair.' That is the way of The Cycle..."

Fex was confused. That was word for word what Kat had told him during training...

A single gun shot rang out.

"HIT THE DECK!" Tom shouted. They hurled themselves to the floor immediately. Some went down too fast. Firenze hit his head on the wall. They were even quick to draw their weapon's, as most of them unholstored on the way down.

"WHAT THE SHIT, MAN!" Firenze yelled. "HEY, MAJOR! DO YOU WANT ME AND TINA TO GO UP TOP TO WASTE WHATEVER MOTHER FUCKER IS OUT THERE?" He suggested, holding up his machine gun and pointing Tina's sniper rifle.

"No, Firenze. Calm down."

"YEAH, BUT THERE'S SOME FUCK NUT OUT THERE WITH A GUN!"

"Well, I can see that..." Tom leaned up so he could see the stairs. "Doc.! I'm worried about my boys downstairs! Firenze! Tina!"

"WASTE THE MOTHER FUCKER?"

"No! Take up positions at the windows of either end of the room! Get a good view of the street and good cover! I'm gonna' send Doc. downstairs to check on my boys! I just want you in that position so that if something does go wrong, you'll be in a good firing position! Ready? Go?"

Doc. got into a crouch and ran for the stairwell. Firenze and Tina got into their firing position's. Guns pointing out the window, covered in the dark corners.

"Firenze, see anything?"

"No. No tangos."

"Tina, how about you?"

"Not a damn thing. There's a dark corner and really dark alley across the road."

"MAJOR! WANT ME TO FIRE SOME BURSTS INTO THE DARK SPOTS?"

"Firenze..." Garry said calmly, arm's crossed, pistol drawn, laying against the wall. "Calm down."

Tina turned and asked. "Does anybody have night vision goggles? Hey, did you guys bring night vision with you?"

"Yeah." Rapter answered.

Tina reached out. "Can I...?"

"Borrow? Sure." Rapter reached into his bag and pulled out night vision goggles. "Don't damage them."

He slid them across the floor to her. She was very careful. She held her rifle perfectly still with one hand while reaching out to pick up the goggles with the other. Glint from her scope could reveal her position. The only thing she moved was her body, which was hidden in shadow.

She picked up the goggles, put them on, and tapped the button to turn on the night vision. Then she peered through her scope.

"Watch your eye relief!" Rapter warned.

"So, Tina...?" Tom hesitated. "Anything?"

"Yes. One tango, it appears to be a Blood Curler. He's by the corner of the small building across the street. He's armed, he's got an assault rifle."

"What's he doing?"

"He's just standing there, sir... Wait! He walking across the road! He's approaching our position!"

"Yeah, I see him now." Firenze added. "He's coming into the light."

"Want me to shoot him?" Tina asked. Tom shook his head.

"No."

"He stopped. He's right in the middle of the road."

"COME OUT!" The Blood Curler shouted. "COME OUT! I WANT MAKE A DEAL WITH YOU!"

"_He _wants to make a deal with _us_?" Firenze chuckled. "He's in no position to do that. We have the advantage here."

"Tina, are you sure he's the only one out there?"

"Positive. There's nothing else in my sight's."

"Well, YEAH!" Fex shouted, sounding paranoid. "He may be the only one your sight's, but there could a thousand of them waiting out there in the shadows, waiting for us to make a wrong move..."

"Geez, Fex..." Howie scolded. "You're overreacting..."

"Maybe he _isn't_." Lee suggested, threateningly. "Fex, what do you know? SPEAK! YOU FUCKING DOUBLE AGENT!"

"Lee..." Garry said calmly. "IF you don't shut up..."

"BASTARD! YOU FOUND A WAY TO LURE US OUT HERE JUST SO THE BLOOD CURLERS WOULD KILL US, DIDN'T YOU?"

"LEE! SHUT UP OR I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"WELL, KILL ME THEN, YOU BASTARD!"

Lee and Fex stood up and started grappling with each other. Chris and Kat got between them to break up the fight.

"DON'T FIGHT WITH HIM, BRO'!" Chris said as he restrained Lee. "WE'RE COMRADES! THAT MEANS WE'RE FAMILY! FEX IS YOUR BROTHER!"

"HE'S NO BROTHER OF MINE!"

"Fex, don't fight him..." Kat whispered into Fex's ear. "I don't you to get hurt..."

"Alright..." Fex sighed. "I won't fight him..."

Lee tore himself away from Chris and started pulling at his own hair. "AH! FUCK!" He stomped his feet and pulled out his hair. Then he leaned against the wall and started crying. Then turned towards Fex again. "I'm sorry, man..." He apologized. "I didn't mean it..."

"It's okay..." Fex embraced Lee and patted his back. "It's okay, man..."

Rapter looking back and forth at Fex and Kat. Could there be more to their relationship than he thought...?

Tom stood up. "Tina... There's just that one guy? You sure?"

"Yes..."

"Where's he pointing his gun?"

"Down at the ground."

"Alright. Rapter, on me. We're going to make ourselves know to him from that center window. We're going to talk to him. Tina, keep your gun trained on that guy's head. The moment he does anything suspicious, you blow his head off, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir!"

Rapter and Tom walked up to the center window...

...They were now looking directly down upon the Blood Curler...

Tom initiated the negotiation.

"LET'S TALK!" He called. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"DO YOU KNOW THAT ONE OF MY MEN WAS KILLED TODAY?"

"YES, I DO!"

"DID YOU KNOW THAT IT WAS ONE OF YOUR MEN THAT KILLED HIM?"

Tom shook his head. "NO! MY MEN DIDN'T KILL YOUR MAN!"

"LIAR! DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"

Tom clenched his fist. This Blood Curler was smart and he knew what he was doing. He wasn't going to let Tom fool with his mind.

"HE'S GOING TO BE PUNISHED! WE'RE CHECKING ON HIS MENTAL CONDITION RIGHT NOW!"

"IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" The Blood Curler argued. "THE ONLY WAY THERE CAN BE JUSTICE IS IF WE DISPENSE IT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU PROPOSING?" Tom asked.

"BRING HIM TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE 'UNDERGROUND' AT MIDNIGHT TOMORROW NIGHT! HAND HIM OVER TO US!"

Tom knew what would happen if they did that. "AND WHAT IF WE DON'T?"

The Blood Curler lowered his head and began to walk away. Then he shouted back. "THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!" After saying that, he disappeared down an alley.

The tension in the room slowly subsided. Tom turned around and headed for his room.

"I will never hand over any of my men to the Blood Curlers..." He said. "There will be no discussion..." He opened the curtains to his room. "Rapter, tomorrow night, you and I are going to keep watch. We'll fight the Blood Curlers if we have to. I'm not going to give up one of my own men to die..." Then he went to bed.

Rapter went to his room and then turned around and whispered. "Fex... Howie... Kat... I want to talk to you three..."

The three of them followed Rapter into his room.

"What's this about?" Howie asked.

"The Blood Curlers are unlikely cut us any slack on this. What's most likely going to happen if we don't give that guy up is a surprise attack. Tom's not going to give him up. Understandably... The Blood Curlers wouldn't treat him very well if they got him. But here's the thing. If we don't give the guy up, a lot more lives will be in danger."

"So are we giving him to them?" Kat asked.

"Yep." Rapter nodded.

"We can't!" Kat argued. "That would be awful!"

"Yeah, but Kat, if one person has to die to save others..." Rapter shrugged. "Now, here's what want you to do. At nine tomorrow night, I want to kidnap that guy and tie him up, stuff a sock in his mouth... all that shit... Anyway, once you've done all that, leave him out in front of the Underground. I'll keep Tom from shining the spotlight on you. Then you guys are going to hide out in one of those bombed-out buildings and watch what happens."

"Which building?" Howie asked.

"I don't know yet. We'll figure out that tomorrow. Howie, when you go tomorrow, take a sniper rifle with you. That way you can watch better."

"Okay. Probably won't need it, though..."

"Alright. You guys got it? We'll talk about this some more tomorrow. Get some sleep..." They split up and went to bed.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Europe, a whole division of rebel troops had set up a temporary HQ. The General went into Virgil's tent. Virgil noticed him, stood up and saluted.

"As you were, soldier."

"What do you want, sir?" Virgil asked.

The General took his pistol out and looked at it. Virgil glanced nervously at the safety. It was off. "I want the battle maps. I need to see something."

Virgil went to look through the stacks of documents. "It's in here somewhere." He assured the General. He looked back over his shoulder at the General. He saw the General shove the gun back into his holster and looked around at his surrounding's. Virgil went back to looking through the stack. He found his battle maps. "Here they are." He turned around and gave the General the maps. As he looked at them, Virgil sat down and got his pistol out. He checked the magazine to see if there was ammo in it. He had a full mag.

"Did you know my father committed suicide when I was young?" The General said, out of the blue. "I was very young back then... But it still made a lasting impression on me... All those... many years ago... I remember that I was walking into the bathroom... And then I remember... That horrible smell... That malodorous, vile, retched, disgusting, detestable, unholy, horrible smell... My father... somehow melted his own body in the tub... I remember... what was left of my father... his bone's... melted and stuck to the floor of the tub... They were unrecognizable... It looked like a monster... And I also remember... the blood, I remember the blood, and then I also remember... his little entrails floating on the surface in the pool of blood... And you know what I was thinking?... I thought to myself 'My God! That man was a fucking genius! He had put up with the shit of life, and decided to end it. He didn't just end his life, he made it so that the form that his body was in was so undesirable, that his spirit would have no desire to return to it.'..." The General looked at Virgil. "Have you ever seen someone commit suicide?"

Virgil nodded.

The General looked up in thought. Then he handed the battle maps back to Virgil. "Thank you for letting me see those. I will take my leave." The General and Virgil saluted. As the General left, he said. "_Jenseits von Gut und Bose_!"

The next day...

Tom was pacing in front of the window, eating his morning rations. He was tense, and it was getting on Rapter's nerves.

"Tom..." He growled. "Sit your ass down..."

"I can't calm down..." Tom answered.

"We're not expecting the Blood Curlers until midnight. Calm down..."

Tom stopped and looked out the window. "How can you explain the Blood Curlers already being out there, then?"

Rapter got up and peeked out the window with Tom. He was right. There were Blood Curlers hanging around the entrance to the Underground. "Huh. Well, looks to me like they're planning."

"What time is it?"

Rapter looked at his watch. Ten minutes to 800 hours."

"So how many hours is that?"

"Oh, about 16."

Tom stepped away from the window. "I think it's about time to break out the weapons. I'm going to have my men carry as much ammunition as they can."

"Agreed. I'll arm my men accordingly, too. In fact..." Rapter went into Taylor's room. "Taylor, I think it's about time for you to break out your minigun..."

"I'm way ahead of ya'!" Taylor reached for his pack containing the minigun.

"Glad you understand..." Rapter left Taylor's room. The others were slapping magazines into their weapon's.

"No patrols today!" Tom shouted. "Everyone prepare for battle!"

"What? Tom! I need to go out! I need to find a good place to put some snipers!" Rapter said.

"Alright, just don't get caught!" Tom answered.

"Okay. Fex, Howie, Kat, follow me..."

Rapter led Fex, Howie, and Kat outside. They snuck around the western side of the city until they were just outside of the Underground...

...Only a few yards away from the Blood Curlers. Rapter scanned the buildings with his binocular's, searching for a sniping spot.

"Do we have to be so close to them?..." Kat whispered. Fex put his hand over her lip's and shook his head, signaling for her not to talk.

Rapter started focusing on one spot. Apparently, he had found something. He tapped Howie's shoulder and handed him the binoculars. "Over there..." He pointed.

Howie took the binoculars and took a look. "Perfect. Good catch..." Howie complemented.

"You remember the plan, don't you?" Howie nodded.

"We'll do it. Don't worry..."

"Don't let Fex get in your way..." Howie turned around and looked at Rapter. "Same thing with Kat..."

Howie figured out what Rapter was thinking. "I understand. You're thinking they might pull an inside job. Time it in conjunction with the Blood Curler attack. You're sticking them with me to keep them away from that. I'm you're scapegoat. You're gonna' let me take the fall if they pull something..."

"Don't let them pull anything. Use lethal force if you have to..."

Howie looked at Rapter for a few more seconds, then looked back through the binoculars. "I don't think that will be necessary..."

"Well... if you have to..."

"Perhaps... there is an even deeper plan in this. Is there, Rapter?"

"..."

"Perhaps you are putting them in a close situation to me to _encourage _them to do something. Then, you could convince the higher ups that they conspired to do damage to the Alliance. Then you can get two more replacement choices. Anybody you want..."

"...You're smart, Howie... You have me figured out..."

"...It's a gift... sometimes a curse..." Howie gave the binoculars back to Rapter. "I don't feel very comfortable being this close to the Blood Curlers. We know the planned position. I think we should head back now, don't you think?"

"Yes, I agree. I don't think position will be left uncompromised for very much longer."

They snuck out of that position, back through the rubble, and back to the HQ. Then they waited...

And they waited until night fall...

The killer was sleeping peacefully...

On the bottom floor...

Alone...

Fex, Howie, and Kat snuck downstairs unheard. Howie leaned the big sniper rifle he was lugging around against the wall. He turned back towards the stairwell.

"I'll watch your back's." He whispered, quietly.

Fex and Kat crept up on the sleeping killer and unfurled some duck tape. He was still sleeping...

Fex and Kat jumped on him and pinned him down. Fex quickly duck taped his mouth. The killer's eyes sprang open. He reached for his mouth. Kat grabbed his hands. He got a hold of her arms.

"Fex!" She frantically whimpered. "He's strong! I'm gonna' need your help here!"

The killer dug his fingers into her arms and it drew blood. She whelped and drew her arms away.

"Oh, shit..." Fex moaned to himself.

The killer reached for the duck tape again. Fex had to think fast...

...Fex brought his gun out and wacked the killer on the head with it, hard. He was knocked unconscious.

"Good job, Fex!" Howie complemented.

Fex tucked his gun back away. "Thank you."

They folded the killer's arms behind his back and wrapped duck tape around them. Then they wrapped duck tape around his legs. Fex and Kat picked the guy up. Howie picked up the sniper rifle.

"Alright. Let's go."

Fex and Kat carried the killer out, following behind Howie. Howie led the way to the Underground entrance. They appeared to be unnoticed. They left the killer there, unable to change his own fate...

Then they moved into position at their designated building, the one that had a giant crack in the side. Howie sat against the wall where he could see through the crack and cradled the sniper rifle in his lap. Fex and Kat against the wall across from him, where they couldn't see through the crack. Howie looked at his watch.

"We've got a few minutes left until midnight. You guys can relax." Howie shifted and looked through the crack.

"Hey... Howie..." Fex said quietly. Howie didn't move his head to look at Fex, rather he turned his eye's sidelong to look at him. "Rapter... thinks I'm the double agent, doesn't he?"

"Of course."

"Well... you don't think so, do you? You don't think I'm the double agent, do you?"

Still looking at Fex sidelong, Howie asked. "Aren't you?"

Fex folded his arm's. "To tell you the truth... and this is going to sound ridiculous... but... _I _don't even know... I don't know if I really am the double agent or not. I could very well be. I hope I'm not. I know it sounds weird, but... it's hard to explain..."

Howie looked back through the crack. "Believe it or not, but I can see where you're coming from. I can see how that could work out."

"Who do you think the double agent is, honestly?" Kat asked.

"Well..." Howie started. "...this is just one of many possibilities, but perhaps this _is _no double agent at all. It may just be a psychological warfare tactic deployed by the enemy. Paranoia is a powerful asset if harnessed correctly. Word of a traitor amongst comrades breeds paranoia in the midst. And if this is true, then the tactic is working..." Howie paused. "We saw it with Ramirez..."

"Hello? Can anybody hear me?" The killer had woken up, somehow removed the duck tape from his mouth and started calling for someone. "Um... Please? I'm all wrapped up here and it's cold and it's dark and I would really like to go home and my balls hurt and..." He kept rambling on. His rambling was one of a crazy man.

"How'd he get that tape off?" Fex asked.

"I don't know." Howie shrugged. "He probably rubbed it against the ground and it came off."

"I SEE PINK ELEPHANTS! HA-HA!" He shouted out, kind of like a drunk person. "I see cockroaches... They're crawling all over me and quoting passages from the Bible. THE FUCKING BIBLE!"

"He's insane..." Howie mumbled.

"I see a naked model..." The killer continued to ramble. "...AND SHE'S FUCKING A SNAKE!"

"Fex..." Kat whispered. "I'm cold..."

Fex put his arm around her. "It's okay..."

"It's about time..." Howie said, looking at his watch. "They should be arriving any minute..." Howie looked back at Fex. "So... Your mother is still alive, is she?"

Fex gasped at his question. "I... I guess... it may be so..."

Howie nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"...I don't know... But my first priority is this... And not even sure about this... Someone told me that the one who organized the assassination of my father would be fighting in this conflict. He never specified which side he would be fighting for. And that is part of them reason why I don't know whether or not I'm the double agent or not. It's not the whole reason, though... I'm prone to switch sides at any moment, Howie... Kat, if that happens, I want you to go underground for me. I don't want to hurt you, so get out of the fight if I switch sides..."

"I would want to go with you..."

"NO! Don't talk crazy talk. If I do what I want, and I kill this man, then I would leave the war... And then be subject to a court marshal for treason. I would be executed, Kat. Don't you know that? And if you were with me, they would kill you, too. You understand?"

"...Yes."

"Fex... after that, what about your mother?" Howie revived his question.

"...I guess... I'll have to look for her... confront her... ask her why she knows so much..."

"Hello?... Oh, hello." The killer was saying hi to someone.

"I think we have a bite." Howie raised the sniper rifle to his shoulder and looked through the scope. "Yep. We've got Blood Curlers. Ten of 'em. They've formed a circle around that crazy bastard..."

"Um... A little help? I'm wrapped up here and the Bible reading cockroaches are getting louder..."

"Howie... What's happening?"

"Well... The Blood Curlers are getting closer to him... They kneeling down next to him, and..."

The killer screamed out in pain. After the scream, he started hooting like a monkey. Not because he wanted to, but because he was being subject to some sort of unspeakable pain...

"Howie... What's happening?" Fex repeated.

"They're..." Howie paused. Though he couldn't speak it, the screams and the other sounds left little to the imagination. It sounded like they were cutting the guy apart with knives...

Kat broke out into tears. "DAMMIT, FEX! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" As she said that, there was loud crunching sound outside. The killer let out a loud, painful cry. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! FEX! HOLD ME!" She buried her head in Fex's chest. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS!"

Fex put his hand's over her ear's. "Don't worry. You don't have to..."

As the screaming died away, Kat feel asleep in Fex's lap. Eventually, after all the screaming ceased, Fex fell asleep, too. But Howie stayed up all night, making sure they were both safe...

The next morning, Howie tapped Fex's shoulder to wake him. He was careful not to wake Kat.

"Fex, let's you and me go and take a look at what the Blood Curlers did..." He whispered. "Don't wake Kat up. She'll be glad she missed this..."

Fex edged away from the wall, comfortably setting Kat's head on the ground. He got up and quietly followed Howie out of the building...

They got to the Underground entrance.

"Holy God..." Howie muttered. Here they could see the aftermath of the previous nights events...

They had separated the killer into three parts. The outer body, the shell of the inside, the skin and flesh. They had stripped him naked beforehand. Next they had removed his skeleton and placed it separate from his flesh. The rib cage was busted open. That was because they had taken his intestine's and placed them in a sac. Finally, the Blood Curlers had taken some of his blood and in the concrete they had wrote. 'We are now even.'

"What the... HELL?" The shocked voice from behind them said. Howie and Fex looked behind them. It was Tom...

Fex stretched his arm out. "Tom..."

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Tom yelled, jumping back. Then he was quiet for a second. "Rapter was acting a little weird last night. I thought something was up. This confirms it..." Tom smacked his head. "Damn! What am I going to do?" Tom looked back up. "Rapter is going to have some serious hell to pay. Yes... That's what I'll do. I'll talk to Rapter..." He began to walk back to the HQ building, all the way he was repeating. "Yes, That's it..."

Fex and Howie were stunned. He had never actually threatened them.

Rapter and Tom talked for the rest of the day. Though it was really bad early on, it got better, and Tom learned to trust Rapter again after the day was done. But the damage was already done, and he couldn't trust Rapter completely. Every day after that, Tom sent one sniper up to the bell tower to see what was happening around what once was a huge and prosperous city.

? later...

There was point when track of time was lost. Nobody could even tell you what day of the week it was.

Fex, being a good boyfriend, got into the routine of bringing Kat her breakfast every morning. He even snuck out some extras from time to time. And she, like a good girlfriend, was always there. So Fex was shocked and surprised when he couldn't find her one morning.

OOOOOHHHHHHH! Do you know what's going on? I do! What's going on? Keep reading, my loyal fans! You will find out! (Perhaps even soon...)


	13. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 12

Bandai... Do you feel lucky, punk?... Well, yeah you do... You own Gundam...

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 12:

Friends and enemies...:

Fex was screaming.

"WHERE THE FUCK DID SHE GO?" He pounded the wall. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

Rapter was standing in the doorway watching the way Fex was behaving. It was definitely proof that his hunch was right...

"Hey, Fex..." Rapter asked. "...How where you and Kat related?"

Fex stopped punching the wall. His lip twitched. His fist's quivered with anger. He turned slowly toward Rapter. His lip came up, making his face a sneer.

"Perhaps... Did you and Kat have a sexual relationship?"

Fex was very mad. "_You better mind your own fuckin' business, Rapter_..." He growled.

"You could get in a lot trouble if you did... Believe me, if I find out that you did, you _will _get into a lot of trouble..." Rapter was messing with Fex.

"You know what we could do?" Doc. suggested. "If we find Kat, we could give her a pregnancy test."

Fex went nuts. He grabbed Doc. by the neck. "_Kat is **NOT** fuckin' pregnant_!"

"Hands off!" Howie shoved his gun between Doc. and Fex.

Rapter took that comment and ran with it. "So you and Kat _did _have sex!"

"_NO! DON'T GET EXCITED RAPTER! I HAVEN'T ADMITTED ANYTHING YET_!"

Rapter thought for a second. How could he get Fex to do something that he didn't want to do?

"Then why are you so upset?" He asked.

"BECAUSE! KAT IS A COMRADE! IT MAKES ME UPSET! AREN'T YOU?"

Rapter paced back and forth. "Oh, I don't know..."

"You lying son of a bitch! Tell the truth! You know it hurts to lose a comrade!"

Rapter shrugged. "Was Kat really a comrade?"

"DAMMIT! SHE WAS AND YOU KNOW IT!"

"Know what? It's hard to tell who your friend's are in this day and age..."

"YOU BASTARD!" Fex raised his gun and pointed at Rapter.

Rapter was very calm. "Lower your weapon, Fex. You'll get yourself in more trouble than you already are... You just brought up another subject altogether... Your loyalty issues... Not Kat's... Though it may have something to do with this... Is your frustration merely an act? Does her disappearance have anything to do with you, or... Are _you_ directly responsible for her disappearance?"

"FUCK, NO!"

Rapter concocted an elaborate story to scare Fex with."Maybe Tom and I know something... Perhaps I struck a deal with him to hand Kat over to the Blood Curlers to pay him back for killing one of his men..."

It worked. Fex got scared. "LIAR! YOU DIDN'T DO THAT, YOU FUCKING LYING BASTARD!"

"I can see it now... They would have some fun with her..."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU DID NOT FUCKING DO THAT!"

Rapter stood down. He had no more comments to scare Fex with. He started to leave the room.

"I don't trust you, Fex. I will be watching you."

? later...

Kat was staring down at the handcuffs that she had on. She had become very familiar with the jingling sound that they were making. They only made that sound when she was walking.

"Hurry up!" The old man in front of her ordered. And the sad truth was that she knew the man...

Kat sped up to catch up him. She had no idea where she was now. It appeared to be a Rebel encampment of some sort. The soldiers were obviously trying to keep their distance from Kat and the man leading her, with the exception of the man's personal guard. Where were they going?...

They reached a tent and stood outside for a second. A female was making groaning noises inside. The old guy up front peeked into the tent.

"VIRGIL! STOP FUCKING THE GIRL! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"

(This is from Kat's point of view. She can't see what's going on in the tent, although it is pretty obvious.)The girl stopped groaning. Then Virgil moaned.

"GET OUT FROM HERE, WENCH!" A brunet was practically thrown out of the tent with no pants on, but the pants followed and they were thrown on top of her.

The General entered the tent.

"Me and Virgil are going to talk. Take the girl to my tent. And if I hear that any one of you so much as grabs your wiener..." The General made a quick turn towards his personal guard's. His gun was drawn. He fired the bullet struck the bodyguard on his right in the head. Blood splattered all over his comrade as his body fell over. The General holstered his gun.

"I'll blow your fuckin' head off." He went into Virgil's tent. The remaining bodyguard knew he should follow the General's instructions...

Virgil poured himself some coffee. "So... Does she know if 'Red's' strategy is working?"

The General nodded. "Yes. It is working."

Virgil sat back and took a sip of his coffee. "Are you sure we can trust 'Red'?"

"...Yes. I am positive we can trust 'Red'."

Silence. Virgil took another sip of coffee.

"That's the reason _I _killed the last 'Red'..." The General continued. "I couldn't trust him. I replaced him with a 'Red' that I could trust. This also brings up the matter with the current 'Blue' ghost..."

"The leader of the so called 'Phantom' forces?"

"Yes..." The General lit a cigar. "I'm actually thankful to him."

"Are you? I don't trust him either. Why are you thankful to him?"

"Well... Before he became 'Blue' ghost, we really had a tough time keeping the 'Red' ghost's identity secret. The previous 'Blue' didn't have much political influence. 'Blue' noticed this and did something about it..."

"...And that's why I don't trust him."

"I understand why. But when you really think about what he did, it was really genius. He orchestrated the death of the old 'Blue' ghost to become the 'Blue' ghost."

"I remember being on the receiving end of that..."

"However, there were some great advantages to this. His political influence is doing the job. He's doing a great job keeping 'Red's' identity secret. And second, his 'Phantom' insignia is confusing to the higher ups in the Alliance government. They have no idea how powerful the 'Phantom' forces are..."

Virgil picked up some of his document's. "The last communication from him mentioned something about being the 'wizard of Oz'. Any idea what the hell that means?"

The General took a puff of his cigar. "No idea..."

? later...

It was lunch time at the camp. Kat had gotten away from the General for a while. Now, she had to find something. Anything...

She walked by Virgil's tent. Virgil wasn't there. But somebody was...

Kat walked in. It was the girl that Virgil had thrown out the day Kat had arrived. She had a knife to her stomach...

She saw Kat and gasped. She dropped the knife and staggered back into the corner.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" She yelled at Kat. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Kat had a feeling she should help this girl. Maybe, maybe, if they became friends, they could find a way to escape...

"What were you doing, trying to kill yourself?" Kat asked. She was just starting here. The girl nodded her head. "Why?"

The girl pointed at her stomach."The bastard... I'm carrying his child... I don't want it... I won't have it... FUCK! I WON'T HAVE IT!"

The girl dove for the knife. In response, Kat rolled over next to the knife. The girl got her hand on it first, but Kat grabbed her by the wrist so she couldn't do anything with the knife.

"FUCK OFF!" She yelled and looked up at Kat. She was really surprised when she looked up and saw kat holding a gun to her face.

"...Where did you get that?" The girl asked Kat. She lessened her grip on the knife and Kat took it.

"First, let's start over..." Kat put the knife against the girl's throat. "What's your name?"

"Jessica." She answered.

"Alright. Jessica. Good name. My name is Kat... Nice to meet you... Let's be friends, Jessica... Even though... I guarantee that if you fuck with me I will not be good one..."

"Alright..."

"Glad we understand each other... Now... What did you want to know again?"

"...Where did you get the gun?"

"Oh? This? I got this when the General wasn't looking. He trusts me too much..."

"Why... Why does he keep you in his tent? Is it..."

Kat slapped Jessica across the face with her gun. Then she pointed the gun back at Jessica.

"Now... Next question..."

"Why did you hit me?"

Kat hit her again. "For stupid questions that I don't want to answer. I told you. I can be a total bitch if you fuck with me... Just because we're friends doesn't mean we're best friends... You don't get to know everything... Because in the end, it's every bitch for herself... I'm sure you can understand that..."

"Yes... I understand..."

"Now... Let me tell you one of the reasons why I'm speaking with you... Maybe with your help we can escape... But understand this... If you slow me down, I will forget faster than you can say fuck."

"...Right..."

"Good." Kat put the knife back where it supposed to be.

They heard footsteps outside. They were getting closer.

"Oh, shit! Virgil's coming!"

Kat and Jessica stood up and Kat shoved the gun into her pocket. Virgil came right then. He looked back and forth at them. He was wondering what Kat was doing in there. He walked up in front of Jessica and stared Kat down. It was obvious that he wanted her gone.

"Fuck off." He growled. He turned his attention back to Jessica. He shoved her back into the corner. "On the ground." Virgil commanded. Jessica submitted. Then he walked over to her and stood over her. He assumed the riding position. He took Jessica's shirt and began to pull it off. But then he noticed something...

Kat had never left. In fact, she was watching what was happening right now.

"WENCH! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO FUCK OFF!" He got up and approached Kat. He was very angry. Kat had one advantage...

She pulled he gun on him quickly. He reacted very calmly, almost nonchalantly. He quickly grabbed her wrist with his right hand, and while she was preoccupied with that, he brought his left hand up very fast and into her elbow. He broke her arm back towards her shoulder and she screamed in pain. She dropped the gun. Virgil let go of her and let her crawl around on the ground in pain. Then he added to it. He brought his foot up and down on her back. Kat sprawled out on the ground. She staggered up slowly. Virgil came over to her side and kicked her in the stomach. Kat vomited blood all over the ground.

"IT PAYS TO RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S PRIVACY!" Virgil bent over and picked up Kat's gun. Then he reached over, grabbed Kat's throat, and pulled her up by it. He shoved her gun into her mouth. "...Because, as you can see, violating it can have very serious consequences..."

"Even for the person whose privacy you're violating..." Said the General, standing at the tent entrance.

"'Black'!" Virgil let go of Kat.

The General pointed outside. "Leave, Kat. Me and Virgil here need to talk."

Kat distanced herself from Virgil and wiped the bloody vomit from her mouth. Kat looked back at Jessica to see if she was okay. Jessica nodded in confirmation. Kat also looked at her in a way to suggest a different meeting place next time. Then Kat left like the General had told her to do.

Virgil started off explaining himself. "'Black', she had this gun..." He held it up to show it to him.

"That's the one she had when we took her in..." The General mumbled. "I'll hide it from now on, Virgil, if that is okay. But also understand, Virgil... Do you remember what I did to general Albert?"

Virgil nodded.

"Well, that's exactly what I'll do to you if I see you do that to her again..."

And after that, Virgil never so much as acknowledged Kat.

? later...

Kat and Jessica where meeting in low activity area of the camp. It was no coincidence that they were there...

"How did you know to come here?" Jessica asked Kat.

"...The General set this area aside for me. Like I've said before, he trusts me too much..."

"I guess so..." A soldier passed nearby. He kept an eye on them. They said nothing while he was walking nearby. When he had passed them, they resumed their conversation.

Jessica had another question for Kat. "What were you doing before you came here?"

Kat smiled. "What did you do?"

Jessica laughed. "Are you kidding? What did you do? You tell me first."

"Well...I'll tell you what got me here. I killed some of the General's men and he's punishing me for it."

"Man... I can see you killing someone... You almost killed me that one time."

Kat chuckled. Then she asked. "What did you do before this?"

Jessica frowned. She started her story. Tears started trickling from her eye's. "I helped my mother in a nursery. Taking care of babies and that shit. On the weekends, I help to give dogs owners at a store called 'Adopt a puppy'. I'm not really a dog fan, but I did it because my mom wanted me to. But then it happened. The Rebels attacked our town and took it in less than a day. They killed all the Alliance soldiers, without exception. The ones that they captured, they just took them all out into the open one day and shot them all in the head. Then they took their bodies, piled them up in the square, and said that if any one of us resisted them, they would do the same thing to us. So, life continued under the Rebel's rule. Until one night... A drunken group of soldiers staggered into our nursery one night. They only wanted two things... Me and my mom." Jessica stopped. She didn't want to any farther into that. "After a few hours of humiliation... I took one of their gun's and killed them all... I bashed one of their head's in... Good on their word, the Rebels committed slaughter... They went into the nursery and killed all the children, then burned the place down... They killed my mom right in front of me... BUT THE BASTARDS KEPT ME ALIVE BECAUSE I WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED THEIR SOLDIERS! THEY SAID IT WAS TO LET MY CONSCIOUS BURDEN MY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! AND HOLY FUCK! IT IS SO FUCKING WORKING!" Jessica broke down and cried.

Kat picked a stick up from the ground. She started drawing something in the dirt.

"What are you doing?" Jessica asked.

"How are we going to escape?" Kat responded with the question. She finished her drawing. It was of her choking a guard to death.

"I don't know..." Jessica answered.

"Fuck..." Kat brought her hand down on the drawing and ruined it.

? later...

Thump.

Thump.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

..., ..., ... What the fuck?

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS THAT FUCKING RACKET!"

Fex woke up to complaining soldiers and some sort of loud sounds. The sounds were so loud that they woke everybody up. The sounds resembled music.

Rapter came into Fex's room. "You awake, kid?" Fex nodded. Rapter turned his head and yelled. "WHERE THE FUCK IS HOWIE?" He turned back to Fex. "Come on. If this racket isn't the enemy, and right now it looks like it isn't, I'm gonna' be so fuckin' pissed."

Fex rubbed his head. "What time is it?"

"ONE IN THE FUCKIN' MORNING!"

"ONE?"

Fex heard Tom yelling in the hall. "RAPTER! HOWIE'S COMING UP YOUR WAY!"

Rapter yelled back. "HEY, TOM! GET TINA TO COVER US WITH HER SNIPER RIFLE AND MY NIGHT VISION! YOU KNOW, LIKE THAT LAST TIME?"

"YEAH, IF I CAN KEEP HER AND FIRENZE FROM FUCKING!"

Rapter laughed. "YEAH! WE CAN TAKE HIM WITH US!"

Howie finally arrived. "Yeah, Rapter?"

Rapter pointed at Fex. "You take him and go down to the Underground. See if you can find what's making this fucking racket. We're all going on the search, so if you see some of our guys searching in one area, don't search in that area because it's already being searched. Understood?"

Howie nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Alright. TOM! LET'S GO!"

They set out to find the source of the continuous loud sounds, first through the dark alleyways of early morning Paris...

Rapter and Tom started moving down an exceptionally dark alleyway.

"Hey, Tina..." Tom requested over the radio. "Cover us. We can't see shit down here."

"Okay. Got ya'." She responded.

They walked slowly down the dark alleyway. The furious sounds continued. It sounded more and more like music...

Tina shouted over the radio. "MOVEMENT!"

Rapter and Tom kneeled down in the alleyway. "Where? What is it?"

"In the building next you!"

Rapter slowly stood up out of kneeling to peek through the building's window. Tina stopped him.

"Hold it, Rapter. Whatever you do, don't move. It seems like whoever this guy is, he's looking through _that _window."

Rapter stopped. He looked over to Tom, seeking some form of hint on what he should do. He got a knife. Rapter looked at and wondered why he had got it. But then it suddenly hit him...

The window crashed out. Rapter's hand got cut and the knife throw into the air.

"FUCK!"

Tom quickly drew his gun and fired at the dark figure as it jumped from wall to wall and took refuge on top of the building.

"TINA! CAN YOU SEE HIM? SHOOT HIM!"

"NO LUCK! I LOST HIM ALREADY!"

Tom kicked the wall. "Damn..." He turned and faced Rapter. Rapter was nursing the cut he had received. Tom heard a whooshing sound. He reached out and caught a falling object. It turned out to be his knife. "Who... was that?"

Rapter tore some cloth off of his uniform. "How the fuck should I know?"

Tom looked at the cut Rapter got. "How did you get that?" He asked.

"I be DAMNED if I know! It happened so fuckin' fast. I swear..."

"I think I saw glint... Like from a sword or something..."

Rapter gave Tom and odd look. "You've gotta' be fuckin' kidding me."

"No, I'm not. You sure you have no idea who that was?"

"Not a fucking clue."

"Did you see anything that could give you an idea who it was?"

Rapter finished wrapping the cloth around his wound and sighed. "I saw... something red."

"Ha-ha. Your own blood?"

"No, dumb ass. He was wearing red..."

Tom looked as though he had seen a ghost...

"Red?"

"Yeah, Red. So fuckin' what?"

"Did you see how fast he moved?"

"Yeah... Or it's more like I didn't see it..."

"Rapter... I think that may have been the 'Red Ghost'..."

"Don't be stupid..."

"NO! I'M SERIOUS!"

"Think about what you're saying, Tom. Why would..."

Tom yelled out. "FEX!"

Rapter got chills down his spine. He couldn't show it. He couldn't show Tom how scared that made him. He needed to be an emotionless commander with no regard for human life. The truth was Rapter was quite different. He had seen people he cared for die. It was never fun. He had a long, sad story about that. He had never told anyone about it... And he never would.

"Have somebody track Fex down..." Rapter said. "Tina, call Howie. Call Taylor, too. Tell him there's something else we have to do tonight..."

The sounds got even louder. "And speaking of our other job tonight..." Rapter and Tom went into the Underground...

They finally found out what it was. There was a heavy metal concert going on. The artist singer on the stage had no hair...

Blood Curler...

This was a Blood Curler concert...

This was a surprise. This was something that hadn't been documented before. Blood Curlers weren't know for being musical...

But they were know for being violent...

The Blood Curler's song was violent. And he sang furiously, too. His voice sounded like a machine. The lyrics were basically "fuck, fuck, fuck".

His concert wound up. At the end, he threw his mic down on the ground and yelled out. "BRING OUT THE SACRIFICES!" He walked off stage with his arm's outstretched, like he thought highly of himself.

Rapter and Tom were scared. They couldn't hide it on their face's.

Chris and Lee found them with their jaws agape.

"What is it?" Lee asked. "What was all that noise?" Tom pointed out towards the stage. They had brought out a line of people...

Suddenly, the audience charged, sharp objects such a knives in hand. They started slashing the people that had been brought out savagely...

Lee screamed in fear. "AHHHHHHH! HOLY FUCK!" He ran. "AH! FUCK! DON'T FUCKING DO THAT!" Lee ran fast. He did not want to see that.

"BROTHER!" Chris called. He ran after him. "BROTHER!"

Lee was running as fast as he could. He was running faster than what he thought was humanly possible...

"BROTHER!" Chris kept on trying to get through to him, but it wasn't working. Lee couldn't hear him at all...

When Lee got out of the Underground, he fell face first onto the ground. Then he started talking to himself.

"No... Don't show us that... We don't want to see that..."

Chris caught up to Lee. "Lee... Lee... You okay, bro?" He put his hand on Lee's shoulder. Lee exploded off the ground.

"FUCK, NO! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING? I SAW HELL, YOU DUMB FUCK!" Chris recoiled. This wasn't his brother. Sometime in the last minute or so, something had happened to him. Something had disturbed him. He would never recover...

He would never be the same person ever again...

Rapter and Tom met up with them. "How is he?" Tom asked. Chris looked at him and shook his head.

"Hey, Rapter!" Tina said over the radio. "We got Fex!"

Meanwhile...

Kat was looking for Jessica. She hadn't met her when she was supposed to. Kat had a bad feeling...

The bad feeling was justified...

Kat walked into the infirmary and found that Jessica had stabbed herself in the stomach with a scalpel...

In your review, tell me what you think is going to happen to Fex. In fact, tell me what you think is happening and what is going to happen to Kat now that Jessica has stabbed herself. What effect will the mass sacrifice have on Lee? Keep reading and find out if you were right or wrong.


	14. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 13

I do not own Gundam. I just own this particular version of it.

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 13:

Last tango in Paris:

Fex had his hands tied. There was nothing he could do.

"BASTARD!" Rapter cried as he slammed his metal knuckles into Fex's face. Blood went flying everywhere. Fex recovered from the blow just in time for Rapter to throw another right hook. Rapter didn't wait for Fex to recover from that and he threw a left hook. It's impact made Fex staggered backwards like a drunk.

"RAPTER!" The Doc. called. He had been watching from the hall. "DON'T YOU DARE KILL 'IM, MATE! IS THAT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN PLANNING TO DO?"

"Actually... I don't know what I'm going to do with him... Howie, what do you think we should do with him?"

Howie was standing in the doorway. "Spare him. He might do you a favor one day, even though his is a Rebel spy."

Rapter grunted. "Hmpf. I don't like that idea. I think I'll just kill him." He threw an uppercut into Fex's stomach. It made a crunching sound. Fex's chest had been cut open by Rapter's metal knuckles. They could see in bloody detail his broken rib bones. Fex bent over, reeling from the hit. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?" Rapter made a fist and brought it down on Fex's back, knocking him down on the floor, where he vomited blood.

"GET UP!" Taylor yelled. "GET UP ON YOUR FUCKING FEET!" Taylor kicked Fex in the chest and then the balls. "GET THE FUCK UP!"

Howie and Doc. had seen enough. They both left.

Fex staggered up. Rapter grabbed him by the armpits and head butted him. Fex's nose broke. Rapter walked around him and swung his arm's.

"Taylor... I don't think he's gonna last much longer... Do you think he can even speak anymore?... If you can, say something, Fex..."

Fex was barely conscious. His right eye had been partially smashed into it's socket. His mouth was gaping open, blood ran from it. But Fex felt that he had to say something.

"Ass fuck..."

Rapter motioned to Taylor. Then he looked at Fex and walked right up to him. "Say that again, please?"

Fex was swaying from side to side. "I said you're an ass..."

Taylor pulled a plastic bag down over Fex's head and brought it backwards towards him. Fex inhaled and the plastic sucked into his mouth so he couldn't breath. Rapter punched Fex's nose and blood splattered all inside the bag. Taylor let the bag go and punched Fex in the back of the head.

Fex fell over and went unconscious.

Rapter inspected him. "He's not dead, is he?"

Taylor shook his head. "I don't think so. He may be close to it, but he's not dead."

Rapter went to the window. It was getting lighter. It was overcast, but they could that if it hadn't been, the sun would be coming up. The day was about to begin...

Something perked Rapter's ears. "Hey, Taylor..." He asked. "Did you hear that?"

"...No. What is it?"

"I don't know. It was faint, but I can swear I heard something. It sounded like..." He heard the sound again. "AH-HA! THERE IT WAS! I HEARD IT, DIDN'T YOU?"

"I think I heard something..."

Tom came into the room. He initially hesitated due to the fact that Fex was laying unconscious on the floor chained to the ceiling. But he got past that and came in.

Rapter noticed him. "TOM! HAVE YOU HEARD WHAT I'VE BEEN HEARING?"

"I think so. That's why I came up here..."

"What does it sound like to you?"

"Do you want my honest opinion? Do you want me to just lay it flat?"

"Yes... Unfortunately, I think we're on the same page here, and I hope we're not right..."

"Do you want me to baby you then? Tell you the convenient truth?"

"Well, yeah, go ahead."

"It sounds like tank treads..."

"Nice." Rapter buried his face in his hand. He was too tired for this. "Now... Tell me what you _really _think it is..."

"...It sounds like a whole tank group..."

Rapter sighed. "Fantastic. Any other happy news?"

"Remember what they told you at basic? Tanks usually don't go in alone. It's probable that we have infantry incoming as well..."

"Great."

"It sounds like there's some other vehicle types in there as well... C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R.s... troop transports..."

"Son of a bitch... It has finally come... the enemy has finally come... Tom, get your men ready for battle... It's time..."

Tom ran out the door. "WAY AHEAD OF 'YA!"

Rapter looked over to Taylor. "Get our guys ready..."

"YES, SIR!" He saluted and followed Tom's path out the door.

Fex was regaining some consciousness. He could make out shapes hurrying around outside. Something was happening...

Rapter knelt down in front of him.

"Battle... battle breeds chaos... chaos breeds confusion... confusion breeds sickness... sickness is the precursor to death. Everyone dies sometime. Sickness is essential. Without sickness, we know not whether we are alive or dead. Mankind was created for battle..." Rapter grabbed Fex by his hair. "We were _meant_ to fight and kill each other..."

Taylor came running into the door, brandishing his mini gun. "RAPTER!"

"What is it?"

"Should we get the Blood-Curler's help?"

"Yes! Send Howie to get them!"

"Yes, sir!" Taylor looked down at Fex. "What about him?"

Rapter just stared at Taylor disapprovingly. Rapter headed towards the door. Taylor stepped aside to let him out.

"I will not lose this battle, Taylor..."

Tom was watching his men get ready. It had been a while since he had heard these sounds. Magazines being slapped in. Machine gun belts jingling. Guns being cocked. He himself had to get ready. He picked a submachine gun up out of weapons box. He took a magazine and placed it in the housing, then cocked the gun. Some people liked that feeling. Tom didn't. His men had names. And he was sure that it was the exact same thing for the Rebels. Tom had no problem shooting nobodies. But the problem was...

...There was no such thing...

He had something he needed to say to the men. He had been holding off.

"Hey, guys..." He started. The men gave him their attention. "First off, the most important thing here is not to win this battle. The thing I want you to remember is that... you are all human beings. The thing that is most important is that you stay alive. To figure this into the battle strategy, shoot from cover. And don't forget that they're human, too. If you capture them..." He looked at their face's. They knew the drill. Tom nodded.

"That's all..."

Rapter and Taylor made it downstairs.

"GUYS!" Rapter shouted, directed for Howie, Chris, Lee, and Doc. "ON ME!"

Rapter and Taylor knelt down in a corner. The others knelt down around them.

"Battle plan." Rapter pointed at Howie. "You. Sneak around the southeast corner of the city and then head north without anyone seeing you. Then proceed into the Underground and make contact with the Blood-Curler unit. Ask for their help. Tell them they will get their pay when our forces come for us."

Howie tilted his head and sighed. "Blood-Curlers... sir?"

"I know. I don't like it either, but we might need it. GO! HURRY!"

Howie didn't like it, but he did as Rapter said.

Rapter continued. "Chris, Lee, do you guys remember passing a shack full of wine on the way here? It's on the side of a park."

They both nodded.

"Okay, I want you two to go there right now. When the enemy passes through the center of the park, open fire on them. They should have very little or no cover to take. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" They both answered at the same time.

"Okay, now go." Chris and Lee pulled out.

"What 'bout me?" Doc. asked.

"You, Taylor, and me are staying with the rest of the men." Rapter answered. "We'll ask Tom what he's planning to do. He's got the plan. Let's ask him..."

Meanwhile...

Howie was already in the Underground. He had ran there. Judging from the sounds he had heard outside, the enemy force was getting close...

The Underground was a mess. That concert from the previous night was obviously a monster. It almost seemed as if the Underground was now deserted.

But there were still people there. The first one he saw was a girl dragging a body bag out of an alleyway. When she turned the corner to drag it down the street, she gave Howie a nasty look. He had no idea why. Perhaps she knew he was a rapist...

Howie rounded the corner. The first thing he saw was a naked woman broken backwards over a spike...

Yep. He was definitely at the Blood-Curler's hideout...

Howie saw the commanding officer come out of the hut. He had noticed Howie.

"What do you want?" He asked. There was an air of indignance in his voice. Howie noticed something swinging back and forth next to his head. It was the head of some other poor guy. It was mounted on a large hook which was, in turn, connected to the ceiling by chain. The face's mouth was agape, horrified. Howie couldn't focus on it.

"We need your assistance. The Rebels are coming and there's going to be a battle."

Other Blood-Curlers had come out of the hut and they were standing behind their commander, watching Howie. The commander waited before saying. "What can you pay us?"

"Nothing."

The commander frowned. "Nothing?"

Howie realized he had said the wrong thing. He kept his cool. "Nothing right now. When our forces come for us, we can pay you."

"And how much then?"

"I don't know. I'm sure that our commanders' will pay you generously."

"And how can you be sure?"

"I already told you. I can't."

The commander folded his arm's. "Please leave."

In stubborn defiance, Howie crossed his arm's. "I'm sorry. I'm can't leave until I get something. Those are my orders." He lied.

The commander seemed like he was backed into a corner. "We may be here for some time, dealing."

"Well, then, I'll be here for as long as it takes." Howie said.

Meanwhile...

The men were taking up positions at the edge of the park. It had started to rain. The heavy boots that the men had on made thick splashes in the puddles when they changed positions. A soldier dived behind the sandbags they had set up. He gave Tom a report.

"The men have taken positions down each street as ordered, sir!"

"Good! Now the enemy won't be able to flank around without us knowing!" Tom saluted the soldier. "Join the ranks!"

"Yes, sir!" He left and joined the rest of the riflemen.

"Rapter..." Taylor asked. "What should I do?"

"You?" Rapter looked around, decided the best spot for Taylor. Then he pointed at one the building behind their position. "Hang in the rear and watch. Cover us if we have to fall back. Understood?"

"Yes, sir! I understand!" Taylor ran back into the building. He poked his head over the bottom of the window to watch.

"Tom!" Rapter said. "Shouldn't we have a sniper up in the bell tower?" He flicked his thumb in the bell tower's general direction.

Tom shook his head. "The Rebels already control that portion of the city..."

Someone turned on a loudspeaker in the bell tower. First, a voice came on...

"Members of the Governmental forces..." It said. "...Please throw down your weapons' and surrender. We are going to take this city. Resistance will be put down with lethal force. It is favorable to surrender..." He got off the loudspeaker.

Rapter stood up. "EVERYBODY!" He announced. "DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! IF YOU SURRENDER, THEY ARE GOING TO KILL YOU ANYWAY! AND IF I SEE ANY ONE OF YOU RUN, I WILL SHOOT YOU MYSELF!"

Tom looked up at Rapter. "NO! DAMMIT, RAPTER! NO!"

Rapter took out his Desert Eagle and continued. "IF YOU STILL WANT TO GO, GO NOW!"

Beyond the droning of the incoming vehicles, it was deadly silent. The soldiers had scared looks on their faces', all of them...

Rapter heard rustling. He whipped around. One had tried to run...

"THERE WE GO!" Rapter yelled as he raised his gun.

"NOOOOO!"

Rapter fired...

All the soldiers watched. The kid had hit full stride when the bullet struck him in the side of the head. The sheer velocity of the bullet made his body turn right somewhat, making him fall at an angle. His body hit the ground with a disgusting the sound, the kind of sound made by a dead body falling to earth. Rapter's bullet had taken the poor boy's head off. The blood pouring out of the stump ran down the street...

The first blood they had shed that day was their own...

Silence fell over the rest of the men. Distant thunder sounded. The unrelenting rain made it all the more miserable...

The Rebels put something else on. It was music... Classical music... It was almost a celebration of what Rapter had just done...

The vehicle droning suddenly stopped. They heard Rebel troops shouting.

"ALRIGHT, GUYS! THIS IS IT!" Rapter shouted. He backed down behind the sandbags again. Rapter then shouted out to the Rebels. "COME AND GET IT! WE'VE GOT ENOUGH BULLETS TO KILL ALL YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!"

The Rebels came running out of cover across the street towards the park. The moment they exposed themselves, they came under fire. The riflemen were firing at them continually. The air was filled with the sounds of gunfire. No matter how loud it got, the music always seemed to be playing louder...

The first wave of soldiers was cut down before they even got to the edge of the park. They laid in the street in puddles of their own blood. The Rebels didn't send any more troops for a while. Tom's men hadn't taken any casualties. But he had noticed something...

"Where are Tina and Firenze?"

Meanwhile...

The flowing red stream... Churning slowly... The bubble burst...

Fex reached for his gun. His body was weak. He ached. He didn't know if he could stand up. He grabbed the butt of his pistol and dragged it out of the holster. His movements were achingly slow. He nudged the barrel up against his ear...

Wait. Why was he able to do this? Last he knew, his hand's had been bound. Did someone free him? Fex pushed himself up. Every second he put pressure on his arm's and leg's, it felt as though they would snap. Two pairs of arms helped him up. After being stood up, Fex faced Tina and Firenze. They had their weapons slung over their shoulders.

"Are you okay? Can you walk?" Tina asked. Almost as an answer, Fex stumbled over. Tina caught him as he fell, but her shoulder went into his stomach, causing him to throw up blood mixed with last nights diner all over her back. She patted his shoulder. "It's OK, big guy. Don't worry about it."

"What's going on?" Fex asked weakly. "Where is everybody?"

"The Rebels have attacked the city." Firenze explained. "Everybody else went to fight them."

Fex was perplexed. He didn't hear any shooting. All he heard was classical music. But he believed them.

"Get me to my mobile suit." He said. "I'll be able to hold off any force single-handedly if I can just get to it... So take me there..."

Fex put his arm's around Tina and Firenze and they began carry him to his suit...

They had a long way to go...

Meanwhile...

Howie was standing motionless, silent. So was the Blood-Curler commander. Neither had budged on the deal, and negotiations were going nowhere fast. They were waiting for the other one to make a move. They were in a stalemate...

The commander was perhaps looking for a compromise. "I am very adamant against giving you troop support. How about some other kind of support?"

One obvious thing came to Howie's mind. "Weapons and ammo?"

Judging from the commander's face. He wasn't going to get it. "I can't leave until I get something." Howie reminded him.

The commander kind of smirked. "You know, I like you. You don't bitch like most army grunts..."

Howie also smirked. "They never trained me how to bitch..."

The commander laughed. "No, I guess they wouldn't. Like I said, I like you. If you were like the rest of the grunts, I would probably have to kill you." He motioned to men. They went into the dark corner across the street. "So, because of this fact, I actually do feel obliged to give you something..."

The Blood-Curlers were all working to push something out of the corner. When it came into the light, the commander turned to Howie and asked. "Do you like it?"

Visually, Howie didn't look any different, but inside, the kid in him was about to explode...

Meanwhile...

"HEADS UP! INCOMING!" Rapter called. The Rebels were trying to cross the road again. Automatic rifle fire almost immediately greeted them. This time there were more of them...

"DRIVE THEM BACK!" Tom shouted. Right after that, the Rebels turned back around. They scurried back for cover. This made Tom confused. "I didn't know it would be that easy..."

Then he saw why they had done that...

They were driving troop trucks out in front of the troops for protection. This was smart. This way, they could get the troops all the way up to the sandbags and have them attack from there. That way they wouldn't have to worry about range. A few well placed shots and they wouldn't have anymore problems...

But Tom and Rapter had thought beforehand...

"RAPTER!" Tom shouted. "SET ONE OFF!"

"RIGHT!" Rapter pulled a switch device out of his pack. He flipped one of the switched in the middle of the device.

Something exploded near the middle of the park. It was one of the explosives that Rapter and Tom had set. The vehicle drivers saw this and realized that they were not going to be able to drive right up to the sandbags. It parked parallel to the wine shack...

"CHRIS!" Lee shouted to his brother. "THEY'RE HERE! HIT IT!"

Chris pulled a rope opening the large blinds for the front of the shack. The soldiers outside looked surprised. They had nowhere to hide now...

Chris and Lee opened fire on them...

There was a small jeep seen driving around on the Rebel's side of the park. Tom's men took a few potshots at it but to no affect. It got down a separate street before they could make any solid hits...

Rapter began to worry about Chris and Lee. They would run out of ammo sooner or later, and when they did, they would be at the enemies feet. Their fate would be entirely up to the Rebels. If they were to fall into their hands...

"Let them die..." Rapter mumbled to himself...

Meanwhile...

It was the edge of the city. The last group of soldiers in the Rebel force were waiting behind the corner of a building. Around the corner was the main street to the park...

These soldiers heard something abnormal, coming their direction fast. It sounded like...

...A muscle car came barreling around the corner several streets down. The driver was blaring rock music from his radio. And the driver was Howie...

The soldiers walked into the street in front of the car.

"What the fuck is this guy thinking?" One of the soldiers commented, switching the safety off on his assault rifle. The soldiers bunched up in the middle of the road and aimed straight at Howie...

...Then Howie accelerated to top speed...

When he reached the intersection, he turned the wheel and applied the brakes. As his tire's screeched, the back end of the car bowled over the brunt of the group in the intersection.

"What the fuck?" The last remaining soldier exclaimed. He was just standing, looking dumb.

Howie stretched his leg across the passenger seat and kicked the door open. The door, in turn, struck the guy in the balls. He grabbed them on pain. The impact closed the door again. Howie accelerated again.

He turned the corner down main street. It alarmed him to see several troop carrying trucks blocking the street in front of him. The troops noticed him and started firing on him. Howie instinctively veered right towards a large open space between four buildings. Drifting right put rear bumper of the car between the troops and Howie, shielding him.

Howie was going to have to make his way around the building on the right side of main street. This way, he would come out in front of the trucks.

Howie veered left again so he would be in position to drive into main street again. But then, out of nowhere, the engine died. His car was brought to a halt by a pile of debris.

"Dammit, START!" He tried vainly to start the car, but a few revs was all he ever got. He hit the steering wheel violently. Then he stopped and vegetated for a second. It was then he heard an odd sound. He looked over the pile of rubble...

There was a tank coming his way...

Now he had to start the car. He slammed down on the pedal hard. He didn't get anything. He looked over the rubble again. The tank was still coming, only now it was coming full throttle. Howie came down on the pedal full force.

"DRIVE, GOD DAMMIT!"

...The car started.

He put the car on full throttle. He looked back. The tank crashed down right behind him. He had started the car just in time.

Suddenly, the car was jolted to a complete stop. Howie looked. He had run into the wall. He put the car into reverse. He heard mechanical noises behind him. The tank was turning it's cannon towards him. Howie put the car into drive. This was going to be close.

Howie slammed the pedal and shot back onto main street.

"KA-BOOM!"

The cannon blew away a portion of the building behind him. Debris hit the ground behind the car. Howie turned another corner out of danger.

Meanwhile...

Firenze was helping Fex stand erect while Tina was a few yards up, scanning the path up ahead through the scope of her rifle. She got to the park. There were enemies entrenched there. She trotted back over to the other two.

"We've got tangos in the park." She informed them.

"How many?" Firenze asked.

"More than a couple. Fex, do you think you can handle this?"

Fex coughed up blood. "Fuck, no."

Tina looked around, thinking about something to do. When she couldn't find anywhere to hide Fex while they fought the Rebels, she came up with an idea.

"Listen, there are bushes all around the perimeter of the park. Hide in the bushes and sneak out of the city during the shooting. Understood?"

"Are you sure? You could die." Fex asked this even though he really didn't care about their lives'. He was just worried about his own.

...He was mad...

"Yes. Let's go." Tina and Firenze carried him to the edge of the park. They laid him down in the bushes.

"Alright, get out of here, man!" Firenze said before he ran into the park with Tina, weapons at the ready.

"Alright, go, guys. Go get 'em." Fex said to Tina and Firenze, but he was really just talking to himself. "I think I'm just going to rest here for a second..." He rolled over on his back and passed out.

Firenze and Tina took cover behind rubble. Tina peeked around at the enemy troops. Then she ducked back behind cover to formulate a strategy with Firenze.

"Okay, here's the situation. We've got maybe 10 guys at the other end of the park with assault rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers. We're going to leapfrog to their position, you going first. I'll cover you to the first safe position. Then you cover me when I catch up with you. Advance and keep the pressure on, wait until we get close enough, then use grenades. Got it?"

Firenze nodded. "Yeah. I got it."

Tina switched off the safety on her sniper rifle. "Count of three... Okay... One... Two..." Tina raised the rifle to her shoulder and stood up. "GO!"

Firenze ran off. Heavy fire came their way immediately. Tina acquired the general area where the enemy was and quickly fired a salvo of three shots. Then she ducked back down behind the rubble. She thought she may have hit someone because she saw blood spray in between the shots.

Firenze had reached the next cover point. He whistled for Tina to come to him. Then he stuck his machine gun around the corner and fired a two second burst. That was all the enemy fire would allow. Tina made it safe enough, though.

"Alright, that was good. Let's keep it up. The next cover point is farther away. Use more ammo covering. Ready to go?"

Firenze nodded.

"Alright. GO!"

Firenze ran to the next cover spot. Tina jumped out to cover him. She wasn't satisfied about this so she fired off the rest of the bullets in the current magazine. She got behind cover again quickly to reload.

It seemed like Firenze had been running forever. The enemy fire seemed to get closer every round. It made every step seem longer. This scared him...

...And then it hit him. So hot that it was cold... A bullet to the knee. He stumbled slightly do to the pain. He stooped over slightly to grab his knee with his left hand. With his right he leveled machine gun at the enemy and fired like crazy...

Tina heard this and assumed that he had already made it to the next cover point. Then she looked and she couldn't see and anything but dirt. One of the Rebels had used their grenade launcher. Then she saw something fall to the ground. Something humanlike...

She tossed her rifle aside and drew her handgun. She started running towards Firenze while firing wildly in the air.

"DON'T FIRE!" She screamed. "**_DON'T FIRE!_**"

The enemy stopped firing.

Tina tossed the pistol aside. Then she flung herself down next to Firenze's side...

Wrong. It wasn't Firenze. It was Firenze minus a leg...

"OH, GOD!" She cried. "OH, **_GOD!_**"

Firenze opened his eye's and smiled. Blood ran down from the corner of his lip's. Then he began to speak weakly.

"Hey... Wanna' hear a joke?..."

Tina began stroking his hair. "God, Firenze, please don't talk..."

He went on talking.

"Leggo' my leg, oh..."

"Please, shut up, God..."

"I know... Not that funny..."

"Firenze... I've tell you something..." Tina was crying. "I'm... I'm..."

She didn't have to finish. Firenze understood. "I see..." He put his hand on her stomach. "I see..."

Tina took his head and cradled it.

...Here he uttered his final words...

"Run... Get out of here..."

And here, Firenze died...

Tina cradled him even after that. The enemy was watching this whole thing, but she didn't give a damn...

She heard a car motor closing in and then come to a halt. A door opened and then closed. Tina heard footsteps. They were coming her way. Then they stop. She felt a presence behind her.

"Go ahead..." She said. "Kill me... I don't care..."

"Very well..." Answered the male voice behind her. "If it makes you feel any better... Know this... You're not going to hell..."

And then one last shot ended it all...

Meanwhile...

Fex was staring up at the overcast sky as the rain trickled slowly down on him. He felt weak. But he needed to stop procrastinating and get out of there.

He couldn't hear Tina and Firenze shooting anymore. They were probably dead...

He had no more diversions. He rolled over on his stomach and started crawling towards his destination...

He put his in front of him and pulled himself forward. The rocks rubbing on his chest didn't help. They made his trip even more painful. The rocks bruised and cut his chest. He pulled himself forward once and collapsed. He didn't give a fuck if he died. It couldn't be any more painful than what he was going through now. The only people that cared were the people who cared about the outcome of the battle. And Fex sure as hell didn't...

He heard a car coming. It was coming from the direction Tina and Firenze had last been. It was coming his way...

A jeep burst out from the bushes. The jeep ran over Fex's right hand, driving it into the ground. Fex wanted to scream in pain. But he didn't. As the jeep rolled away, Fex examined his hand. Rocks had lodged themselves in it and blood was pouring out. He was really screwed now...

He heard another car coming from the direction the jeep was going. Or maybe it was the same one...

This car skidded to a stop right next to Fex. It did not run over him.

"Hey! Fex! Is that you?" The person that the voice belonged to jumped out of the car and picked Fex up. It was Howie. He carried Fex to the passenger side and pushed him in. Then he walked over to the driver side.

"The Rebels have tanks moving in. We only brought four rockets for the launcher, so we need to get to the suits. They can probably only handle one tank." Howie jumped over the door into the seat.

"I realized that..." Fex retorted grumpily. "I don't give a fuck..."

Howie turned the key. "Doesn't matter..." He started the car. "You're coming..." He accelerated forward.

Meanwhile...

Lee ejected an empty magazine out of his machine pistol. Then he jacked his last one in.

"CHRIS! ALMOST OUT OF AMMO!" Lee popped out from cover and fired a few short bursts at two charging Rebels. He dropped both of them.

A Rebel stepped out from behind a table with his assault rifle. He wrapped the sling around his left arm and raised the rifle to his shoulder. Chris swung his shotgun out from cover and fired, taking that guy out. The slug bursted out of his back and expelled blood onto the table behind him. Chris ejected the shell. It was his last.

"BRO! I'M OUT!"

Lee fired a long burst at a Rebel diving for cover. He hit him, but he hadn't taken him out. After the burst ended, he heard a click. The slide was open. He was out of ammo...

"That's it, little bro..." Lee dropped the gun and put his hand's up. Chris reluctantly did the same. "We're out of ammo. We did all we could..."

The Rebels came in, weapons drawn, keeping Chris and Lee at bay...

Meanwhile...

The Rebels started moving in on the protected position again...

Meanwhile...

Garry looked through the scope of his sniper rifle. The enemy was turning the corner, about 85 yards in front of them. He cocked the rifle.

"Get ready." He told his machine gunner. But what he heard wasn't a gun cock, it was snoring. His gunner was sleeping. His gun wasn't even loaded. Garry calmly woke him up. "Wake up. The enemy is coming."

"Alright." The gunner got up. "You shoot while I load."

At this point, there were three Rebels about 75 yards away. No big hurry. Garry carefully adjusted the scope on his rifle for 70 yards. Then he lifted his rifle and aimed squarely between the eyes of the point man. He squeezed the trigger slowly.

"BOOM!"

The Rebel's head vaporized. That got the others attention. They started a run towards them in a zig-zag motion.

Garry's gunner still wasn't ready.

"Can't you shoot faster?" The gunner asked.

"Patience is virtue..." Garry countered. In fact, he lowered his rifle. They only needed to make one mistake...

And make a mistake they did. One of the two soldiers stopped to take a rest, but when he did, he didn't make sure he was completely behind cover...

"BOOM!"

Garry's shot hit the guy in the right shoulder, separating his arm from his body.

The gunner cocked his machine gun. "Ready to fire!"

"BOOM!"

Garry felt brains explode all over him. The last Rebel had gotten within 25 yards of them and fired a clear shot at the gunner's head. Garry ditched his sniper rifle and picked up the machine gun. He leveled it down towards the Rebel and riddled him full of bullets. Garry then went down the street to check on the who's arm he had severed.

He found him holding the stump with his left hand. The guy noticed Garry just as he lifted the gun and fired.

Garry now had the street to himself...

Or did he...

Garry felt he was being watched. He turned around to go back to the over watch position...

Someone wielding a flamethrower had got between him and the over watch position.

Garry raised his gun...

Flames shot from the flamethrower...

Meanwhile...

Tom was crouched behind the sandbag reloading his submachine gun when he heard a terrible scream. Though he had never heard one out of him before, he knew it was Garry's scream. It was then that Tom came to a terrible realization.

"We're going to lose this city..."

Meanwhile...

Howie packed the car just outside of the underground bunker. Howie and Fex jumped out and ran for the bunker.

"HURRY, FEX! THE REBELS ARE PROBABLY OVERRUNNING OUR FRONT LINES RIGHT NOW!"

Meanwhile...

They were.

"RETREAT!" Tom cried. "RETREAT!"

Tom's men took off.

"HEY, TAYLOR!" Rapter ordered. "TAKE THESE MOTHER FUCKERS!"

"No problem..." Taylor responded calmly. He stepped out from cover and pointed his large mini gun at the charging Rebels. "Good bye..."

He pulled the trigger and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on the Rebels. So many bullets were coming at them that some of the began to retreat. Many of them got hit immediately. One of them got hit so many times in the stomach that he got ripped in half.

Taylor ran his gun dry. 750 rounds in less than a minute...

"Fun..."

Taylor turned around and calmly followed the others.

The others were running. They wanted to hole up in their building quickly. They could probably hold out for a while. Until the tanks came...

The Rebels were catching up with them. They started shooting and several of Tom's men dropped. Some of them turned around and fired back. The Rebels took cover.

Tom's men could hear the tanks coming in.

It was over now...

The earth shuddered. The Rebel ground troops were knocked off their feet.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" One of the soldiers shouted.

Then they noticed an enormous shadow cover them. They looked up. Two mobile suit had entered the city.

"YES!" Rapter shouted.

"RETREAT!" Cried the Rebel commander.

Fex started up his mobile suit's Gatling gun and chewed up the enemy tanks...

The enemy started a full retreat...

They had actually won...

Rapter got on the radio.

"HOWIE! YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH! YOU DID IT! I'M GOING TO PUT YOU IN FOR A PROMOTION!" Then he looked over Fex's mobile suit. "What's he doing in there?..."

"I found him outside of your building. What he was doing out there I don't know. You want me to ask him?"

"Yes, please."

Howie switched his frequency to Fex's suit. "Hey, Fex..."

He didn't answer.

"Yo, Fex? FEX?"

First off, what do you think happened to Fex? Did he pass out from losing too much blood? Or did something else happen? What's going to happen now that the battle is over? Please review.


	15. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 14

HA-HA! I OWN GUNDAM: THE DARK ERA!... Too bad I don't own Gundam. Bo-ho...

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 14:

Apparition:

The fire surrounded him. Was he in hell?

"No... You're not dead... yet..."

And suddenly... white.

Fex got up off the floor. He wasn't hurting anymore, for some damn unexplainable reason. He wasn't bleeding either. He couldn't tell where he was. Everything was white. This didn't make sense. Last thing he remembered was being in the Gundam. Now didn't know where the hell he was.

Was he dreaming?...

"Fex?..."

Fex turned around and looked down the hall in front of him...

Kat was at the end of the hall...

"KAT!"

They started running for each other, arms open anticipating an embrace. Then they met and it was like they had both ran into a brick wall. They both staggered back. Insane amounts of blood came pouring out of their noses for seemingly no reason.

"It's not allowed... Not in front of me..." Said the deep, guttural, mechanized voice from nowhere. "I can't stand it..."

Fex and Kat stood back up and realized that they were now in a completely different hall altogether. They could see something at the end of the hall, but they couldn't tell what it was.

"Let's go down there together..." Fex whispered to Kat. Kat grabbed his hand and nodded. They walked slowly towards the other end of the hall.

"I heard that..." The voice said. "I can hear everything you say. You're walking down here together. Are you afraid?"

Fex raised the hand coupled with Kat's in defiance. "Nothing scares me! I'm not afraid!"

"Well... We'll see about THAT!"

Fex and Kat were pushed back down on the ground by a strong, invisible force. It was like the wind got insanely strong and swept their feet out from under them. Fex turned to Kat and they helped each other up.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Kat responded. They were standing up then.

Fex felt something grab him strongly by the back of the neck and pull his head back. Fex noticed that the same thing was happening to Kat and he couldn't see what the cause was. Then, their heads collided together, breaking each others noses. Their heads were forced back again and then the invisible force began repeating the process rapidly.

"LOOK...AT...ME!" The voice sounded angry.

Suddenly, they were looking at something. Something... hideous...

The thing, if you could even call it that, was the skinned and burned torso of a man on a pillow, stumps being all that was left of his arms and legs. He still had a head, though the top of it was cut off and the brains were visible. The muscles and veins were also visible in gory detail.

Kat leaned in for a closer look. "What is this... _thing_?"

"Do you ever learn?" The voice growled.

The thing's eyes opened. They were red with big, black slits in them.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Kat stumbled backwards. "WHAT IS THAT FUCKING THING!"

The thing's lip quivered. Blood dripped from it's mouth and sprayed from it's stumps. Now it spoke from it's mouth. "Not very nice language for a little girl..."

"I am NOT a LITTLE FUCKING GIRL!"

"Oh, really? Can you prove it?"

Kat shook her fist in the thing's face. "I don't need to prove anything to you. I'm a..."

The thing opened it's mouth and projected bloody puke onto Kat's face. It then turned it's attention to Fex.

"What are you going to do, little boy? Now that I've violated your little girlfriend? Try to prove that you're a man?"

Fex shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do..."

"Right. And that's exactly why you are still just a little boy. You never have the slightest idea what to do. In battle, you are confused and scared..."

"I told you, I'm NOT..." Immense pain suddenly shot through Fex's body, rendering him speechless.

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" The thing yelled in anger. "You ARE still a boy. You can't provide for your two younger sisters. You're too naive, young boy. But, oh, I forgot. They don't even exist, do they? At least, that's what Rapter says. And he may be right. You should listen to your elders, BOY!"

The grip of pain let go of Fex. He put a hand on his throat. "What's going on here? Is this a nightmare? Am I going insane? Is this really happening?"

"Let me explain this to you..." The thing said. "You are not having a nightmare. You are not going insane. This _is _really happening... But your physical body is not experiencing this..."

Fex pulled at his hair. "THEN WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"Don't get frustrated, boy. You have to figure out what's going on yourself..."

Fex got into the thing's face. "DON'T USE THIS CRYPTIC TALKING SHIT WITH ME, ASSHOLE!"

The thing puked on Fex like he had puked on Kat.

"Boy..."

The puke came off both of their faces. It was then Fex realized that in order to deal with this thing, he needed to keep his cool.

"Just tell us... Why are we here?"

"I need to show you something." The thing answered.

"What?"

"Your souls... Or, at least, the dark side of your souls..."

"WHY WOULD WE WANT TO SEE THAT?" Kat yelled.

"Because you _need_ it, little girl..." The thing retorted. "You will find out everything about yourself. After this brief glimpse of genius, you will be thanking me. You will bow down before me and worship me. I will..."

"All right, all right, we get it. Now can we get this over with?"

The thing's stomach suddenly exploded, expelling it's guts all over Kat. She flipped out.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" It growled. "Anyway, do you want to see your soul first, little boy?"

Fex nodded. "Let's do it..."

The thing closed it's eyes. There was a bright flash of light and then they were in a depressed, rundown alleyway. They saw an alternate reality Fex come out of one of the apartments and go to the trash and look through it.

"BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY FUCKING CIGARETTES?" He screamed at someone still inside the apartment.

"Who's he screaming at?" Kat asked, nervously.

"You can't tell?" The thing asked her. "Guess..."

Then an alternate reality Kat came out of the apartment. She looked slightly different...

"Is she pregnant?" Fex asked.

"Stop asking stupid questions and watch, boy..." The thing told him.

"WHERE ARE MY FUCKING CIGARETTE'S, WOMAN?" A.R. Fex asked. (A.R. is my way of distinguishing the two Fexs, just so you know.)

"I traded them for peanuts, honey..." A.R. Kat responded. A.R. Fex snapped in her face.

"HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO FUCKING DO THAT?"

"I'm sorry, I..."

A.R. Fex punched her. "SHUT UP! YOU ARE A FUCKING DUMB ASS, BITCH, AND YOU ARE A FUCKING WHORE!"

"What? What are you saying? I never..."

A.R. Fex whipped out a pistol and shot A.R. Kat in the face. Fex fell over backwards in disbelief. He kicked at the ground, trying to push himself away.

"**_THAT IS NOT ME!_**"

A.R. Kat fell to the ground. She was dead almost immediately. A.R. Fex pointed down at her body and kept shooting.

"**_NO WAY! THERE IS NO WAY THAT PERSON IS ME! THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL!_**"

A.R. Fex reloaded and continued shooting.

"**_YOU'VE GOTTA' BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!_**"

"First..." The thing said. "You have to admit something to me..."

"**_FUCKING ADMIT FUCKING WHAT?_**"

A.R. Fex reloaded _again_.

"Admit to me that you are scared..."

A.R. Fex emptied that mag and reached for another one.

"**_ALRIGHTALRIGHTIADMITITI'MFUCKINGSCAREDNOWJUSTGETMETHEFUCKOUTTA'HERE!_**"

Just as soon as he said that, the shooting stopped. Fex's heart was racing. There was no way he was going to calm down anytime soon.

"I'm ready to wake up now..." He said.

"Oh, no..." Said the thing. "We are not done here."

"WHAT! ARE YOU INSANE? I DON'T WANNA' SEE ANYMORE OF THAT SHIT!"

"Calm down, boy. You are done here when I say you are done here. Besides, I still haven't shown you children the little girl's dark side yet..."

Kat looked over at Fex nervously. There were tears welling up in her eyes. She knew what she could expect to see...

They were back in the alleyway...

A.R. Kat came out of the apartment and stuffed a trash bag into the garbage. Then she turned around and faced the doorway. She had something behind her back.

"Honey! Come on out here! I've got a present for your birthday!"

Fex looked at this and realized there was something not right here. This didn't seem bad at all...

A.R. Fex came out. "Oh, I can't wait! What is it?"

A.R. Kat looked up at A.R. Fex and smiled. "Fex..."

"Um-hum?"

She swung an axe out from behind her back and brought it down on his head.

"...I LOVE YOU!"

Kat screamed and put her hands over her ears.

"**_NO! NO MORE! STOP IT!_**"

A.R. Kat kept chopping A.R. Fex as he went down.

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!" She said every time she chopped.

"This is the way I wanted it... The way I wanted to show you..."

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

"This is a battle inside of you... This is _your _battle..."

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

"But you need to choose whether or not you want to fight it... Because it's not the only battle to choose from..."

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

"This is the battle with yourself... The other is the battle with the world... So, which will it be? You must find out what is more important to you... Everything inside?... Or your life?..."

Strange chapter, eh? Scary, maybe? Tell me what you think in your review. ****


	16. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 15

Gundam: The noir era... No that doesn't sound right. And I hold authoritative control over Gundam: The dark era. I don't, however, hold that kind of control over any other Gundam...

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 15:

Problems with authority:

Fex woke up for real this time. He was the woods somewhere. He had no gun. No Kat. No thing...

Was that thing just a dream? Was he really in some strange alternate reality with Kat and that thing? It certainly had a nightmarish quality. What it was Fex couldn't figure out.

But was everything he had experienced so far a dream? Had he actually joined the J.T.M.S.? Was there really a guy named Rapter out for his head? Did anybody in the squad exist? Howie? Chris? Lee? Had he and Kat really...?

Fex decided not to worry about that...

He had to find out where he was...

He looked around for a while and realized he was on the outskirts of a town. But where was this town? He headed into town to ask someone.

Heading into town, he noticed mps had occupied the place. They obviously noticed him and kept a close eye on him. That wasn't strange. He was new in town, so nobody knew him.

Fex noticed a bakery and walked in.

"Man, this coffee fucking sucks." Fex heard as he walked into the door. The man who had made the comment was a mp. He was sitting on one of the round seats next to the counter. There were several townspeople sitting on the seats but they were obviously keeping their distance. "You guys need to get something better than this shit."

Fex sat down on a couch in the corner of the bakery. He leaned out so that he could read one of the customer's newspaper. It was saying something about someone or something coming to town.

"This is the best I can do during wartime..." The bakery owner replied...

So... He hadn't imagined the war... so everything else had probably been real, too...

"I don't give a rat's ass..." The mp continued. "The Alliance didn't fuck you guys in the ass for coffee. We didn't do that, either. You guys fucked yourselves. You guys have no excuse..."

The bakery owner was mad. So he waited for the mp to look down at the paper and then tipped his coffee so that it spilled on the mp's pants. The customers in the bakery laughed at the mp. He slapped the paper on the counter and got up.

"DAMMIT! NOW I NEED TO GET THESE WASHED! I'LL BE BACK, AND I WON'T BE ALONE WHEN I DO!" The mp stormed out. But he forgot something. His wallet was laying on the counter.

Fex got up and joined the others at the counter.

"May I help you?" The bakery owner asked.

Fex picked up the mp's wallet. "I'll take this..." He put it in his wallet.

"Don't let him know you have it, son..." The bakery owner said.

"Guess you guys don't like the government, huh?"

The bakery owner shook his head. "No, it's not the government. It's just these guys. They're more crooked than the surface of my pant's." He lit a cigarette. "The night is the worst part. They go out and sodomize our women at that time."

Fex checked his pocket's again. He had his own wallet. In it was several hundred dollars and a class A gun license. This gave him an idea.

"Do you want me to get rid of those mps for you?"

The bakery owner lowered the cigarette hand and exhaled. "Are you sure? You may get in trouble."

"Don't worry. That's just the way of my life right now..."

The bakery owner stared at him for a second. He couldn't believe Fex was offering to do this for them. He shrugged. "Go ahead and do it." He pointed across the street. "That two story building over there? That's Max's gun shop. He's got some good stuff over there. Hell, the mps buy their stuff there. But Max doesn't sympathize with them. They're just business for him, just as they are here."

"Alright. Thanks for the info."

Fex began to leave when one of the customers stopped him. The customer took off his trench coat.

"You'll need something to hide the weapons." He slipped the coat onto Fex's back. Then the other customers chipped in.

"Here you go." Said the second customer, tossing Fex a pack of cigarettes. Then Fex turned to the last customer.

"Sorry, I don't got nothing to give ya', but ya' have my thanks. Good luck."

"Thanks." Fex turned and left.

Walking into the gun shop, Fex noticed yet another mp.

"WHERE'S OUR ORDER OF ASSAULT RIFLES?" The mp demanded.

"They're running a little late, so you'll just have to wait just like everybody else." Answered the store owner.

The mp was furious. His face was bright red. "THEY BETTER GET HERE SOON!" He stormed out in the same manner as the other mp.

"You're not alone around here." Fex said as he walked up to the counter.

"Got to deal with it." Said the store owner. "It's the way things are around here." Then he turned to Fex. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, I came here to help you. I'm gonna' give you some business and then I'm gonna' sort out the authority problem you guys have here."

The store owner looked shocked. "Wow... Uh... I would sell you those assault rifles I was gonna' sell the mps, but I really don't have them yet. Most of what I got right now are hunting rifles... I don't know if I have anything to give ya'..."

"Got any handguns I could buy?"

"Well... No. I sold them all to people who wanted protection from the mps... Wait a second. Yeah! I actually think I do have one now! Wait just a second, and I'll go get it!"The store owner went into the back room. When he emerged a little under a minute later, he was carrying a large, black handgun with a large laser mount underneath it. He also had with him two magazines and three boxes of ammo. He slid all of this onto the counter.

"Here it is. The 'Pavlov Police Magnum'. I've had this for a while, but I've been waiting for the right person to sell it to. I didn't want to sell it to the mps, that's for damn sure." He clicked on the laser sight. "This is a special laser sight developed especially for this pistol. It makes aiming really easy..." He demonstrated by aiming at the coat rack. "See? Just point and shoot. It also has the typical post sights in case the laser breaks. Now, this gun is big... it takes 8 rounds of .454 Casull, so, as you probably guessed, the recoil takes a little getting used to. The muzzle porting and the fact that it's almost a 5 pound gun help, but this is still a hardcore shooter's gun."

"Don't worry. I can handle it." Fex picked up the gun and looked it over. "This is everything you have? This will do just fine." Fex then pointed the gun at the ceiling and drive fired it.

"Hey, son..." The store clerk began. "Are you going to be needing a place to hide during all this?"

Fex lowered the gun. "I'll be fine."

"Because if you do, I can let you stay in the room upstairs, free of charge."

"There wouldn't happen to be anything wrong with the room upstairs, would there?"

"No."

"All right, then. Show it to me."

The store owner took Fex upstairs. It was obvious that this had been used as a room before, it's just Fex didn't know who it was...

"By the way, where did you learn how to use a gun?" The store clerk asked.

"In the military." Fex answered while scanning the pictures in the room. There was a familiar person in these pictures, he just couldn't remember where the person was from...

"Oh, so maybe you knew my son, Max Jr... Knew because he went and got himself blown up..."

Fex had known him. He was the one who originally gave them weapons. He remembered that Howie had told him that his plane had exploded.

"I'm sorry for your loss..." Fex said, sympathetically.

To his surprise, Max just said. "Don't worry about it. I hadn't seen him for a while when he died. He had been staying with his mother for about a year when he joined up. He said he'd visit me the first leave he got... He never got to the first leave. So, I guess his death hasn't sunk in since I haven't seen him in a while..."

A brief silence fell over the room.

"Oh, well..." Said Max. "We need to finalize the sale on that pistol. I still need to run a business here. You can understand, right?"

"Yeah, let's do that..."

Fex and Max went back downstairs.

? later...

Two mps were hanging around town near the midnight hour. They were smoking, telling dirty jokes and harassing people. They were on a playground and they were the bullies. They could do anything they wanted.

"Hey..." Said the mp to the left. "Have you heard about the guy that's killing mps?"

"Yeah, I have." The other mp responded.

"I heard that he only kills at night... Like right now."

"Don't worry. There's two of us and only one of him. We can take him."

"Have you heard the other things about him?"

"Like the fact that he always shoots for the head and blows the brains of his victims out?"

"Well, yeah, that too. But what about the rumor that he has a cape and one red eye or how about that rumor that he was resurrected from the dead somehow?..."

"...That's a bunch of bullshit..."

"What about the rumor that he eats the brains?"

"Oh, come on! He does not eat..."

A jingling sound came from nearby. A young lady had just closed shop at her pet store. She was heading home for the night.

The older mp dropped his cigarette on the ground and smashed it with his boot. "She's a fine catch..." He said. Then looked over to his partner, raised an eyebrow and said. "Wanna' get her?"

His younger partner nodded.

The girl was walking down a well lit street, but that didn't make the walk home any less creepy for her. It was so quiet. So quiet, it was deafening. That was the worst part about it. She didn't mind the fact that it was nighttime. Just the fact that it was so quiet. And that she couldn't see anything off of the roads.

She stopped in the town square for a second. She checked her purse to make sure she remembered her cute little plush dog that she loved so much. Just as she remembered, it was in there. The plush dog made her happy and it also made her smile whenever she saw it. She closed her purse.

...It was so quiet...

"Hey..." A voice said to her. She looked up to see an mp strolling up to her from an alleyway. She knew she was in trouble.

"What's an attractive young girl like you doing out at this hour?"

She slipped her purse over her shoulder and stood up. "I was just heading home..." She replied. She began walking home calmly.

Another mp stepped into her path. "What's your rush?"

...She really was in trouble now...

She turned and began running towards the alleyway.

"HEY! WHERE YOU GOING? FUCK!" The younger mp yelled. They both took off after her.

She got into the alleyway, but they were right behind her. The footsteps echoed between the buildings. Their footsteps got louder and louder as they got closer...

Both of the mps tackled her.

"GOT YOU!" The younger yelled.

They let go of her for a second, and she rolled over and smacked them in the face with her purse. She had filled it partially with rocks, in case something like this were to happen.

Even though she had stopped them for a second, it wasn't enough for her to get away. The next second they were on her again, holding her down.

"GO FOR IT!" The older mp told his partner as he was holding the girl down. His younger partner reached with his right hand for her cloths...

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The girl screamed.

"BOOM!"

In one quick second, the young mp saw his hand lurch sideways as if hit by something, then sever and fly off in a fountain of blood. Then he felt immense pain and grabbed the stump on his wrist.

"ARGH! OH! OH! JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?"

The older mp looked down an intersecting alleyway...

...He couldn't believe what he saw...

Although he could barely make it out, he knew what it was. A caped man with one red eye walking slowly towards them...

"HOLY SHIT! I'M OUTTA' HERE!" He let go of the girl and went running out of the alleyway. The girl just stood there, in a vegetated state having been doused in the younger mps blood.

"Girl..." Said the caped man quietly. She snapped out of it. "Go. Get out of here. You do not need to see this..." She didn't need him to tell her twice. She got out of there quick.

The caped man began talking again.

"And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee:..."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU...!"

"BOOM!"

A bullet entered the mps left shoulder, emptying more blood and shutting him up.

"BE QUIET! I AM TALKING HERE!" At this point, the caped man was at the intersection of the alleyways. He lowered the gun at the mps face. "So... let me finish... for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not _that _thy whole body should be cast into hell...,...,...,...,...,...,...,...,...,..., Saint Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 30."

Fex pulled the trigger. The bullet splattered the mps brains all over...

? later...

Fex and Max were on the second floor of Max's store, talking. Fex's holy war had been getting attention.

"They've set up a curfew now." Max said. "They're intensifying searches and patrols to try and get you."

"It doesn't matter..." Fex answered. "They won't get me. I know their tactics too well." He took the pistol out of his trench coat.

"Supposedly, the military has heard about your little crusade here. They might send more troops in here..."

Fex laughed. "Don't you understand? I'm not worried about getting caught!" Fex walked to the stairway.

"I'm worried about you getting caught."

"Tch!"

"Did I tell you that I knew you were coming beforehand?"

Fex stopped, turned around and looked at Max. "How?"

"A woman came in here about a day or two before your arrival. She showed me a picture of you and told me you were coming. She me to keep you focused on your objective... Finding out who killed your father..."

Fex suddenly grabbed Max's shirt by the collar. "WHO WAS THIS LADY? WHAT DID SHE LOOK LIKE? WHERE DID SHE GO?"

"I don't know! She didn't say her name! She kept her hood over her face! And she didn't tell me where she was going!"

Fex let go of Max. Then he turned back towards the stairwell.

"Wait? What are you going to do?"

Fex stopped and turned back towards Max. "I don't know what I'm going to do. But she's right..." Fex cocked the slide on his pistol backwards. "I've got to keep the initiative..." He let go of the slide and cocked a round in. He turned around and headed down the stairs.

"ALL CHILDREN DISOBEY THEIR PARENTS!" Max yelled after Fex. "AT LEAST YOUR FATHER CAN BE PROUD THAT YOU ARE BREAKING HIS ORDERS IN HIS HONOR!"

Fex slid his arms into the trench coat and shoved the pistol out of view. "Do me a favor... Don't compare me to your son..." Fex walked out of the store. As he walked out the door, he had an interesting idea...

Fex went to the payphone near town square. He picked up the receiver and slipped some quarters in. Then he dialed in some numbers...

A young girl answered...

"Hello?"

Fex smiled. "Hello, Diz..."

"...Fex?..."

"...My sound and fury signifies nothing..."

"...FEX!..."

"..."

"...WHERE ARE YOU!..."

Through the air...

A whistle...

"...DO YOU WANT US TO SEND SOMEBODY TO PICK YOU UP!..."

Dead...

Dead signal...

Fex hung up. He walked to the edge of town square and lit a cigarette. Nicotine made him calm...

He looked up... Across the square... At the mps...

And they hardly knew...

A whistle...

A drop...

Hey there, salamander...

"...,...,..., Time paradox...,...,..."

The big bang...

Doesn't compare...

Brought down...

To the floor...

The air of excitement...

And the air of terror...

It had begun...

The dinosaur...

The meteorite...

Picasso...

Shitty artist...

Giant bugs...

Paul Verhoeven...

In the end...

And the giant head rip...

OKAY! OKAY! I KNOW THAT LAST PART MADE NO SENSE THERE, BUT THERE'S A GOOD REASON FOR THAT! I'LL JUST SAY EXPECT SOME CLOSURE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Plz review!


	17. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 16

I don't own Gundam: The dark era... Oh, wait! Yes, I do! It's any other Gundam that I don't own!

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 16:

Retracing the tracks:

Fex felt as though he had been sitting in a chair, although in actuality he was laying in leaves in the forest.

"Tell me what happened next..." The hooded man sitting in the leaves behind him asked. Fex scratched his head.

"My memory isn't... I can't remember too well..."

"Try..."

Fex inhaled, the exhaled deeply.

? ago...

It was here...

A leo, dropped from a plane crashed into the center of town. The force of the impact knocked everyone 200 feet from the square to the ground. The leo itself bent to it's knees upon landing. This sent the townspeople into a state of shock for a second...

The leo began to rise up off of it's knees. The townspeople panicked and started fleeing. Fex tried to run as well.

It was huge. The townspeople had never seen something so big in their entire life. It was hundreds of feet tall, easily. As the townspeople ran, they turned back to look at the leo, both in fear and awe.

A delusional man caught Fex's attention. He was standing next to a car, pointing at the leo and screaming.

"OH, GOD! WE'RE ALL GONNA' DIE! THEY COMING TO KILL US!" He turned and looked Fex in the eyes, briefly. "EVERYBODY, RUUUU-!"

A second leo came smashing down on that man and the car next to him. Fex was knocked to the ground, but he got immediately back up. He started running again. The next step of the leo could be his last...

Fex saw a family going into a bomb shelter. They noticed Fex and called for him.

"COME ON! GET IN!"

Fex sprinted towards the shelter.

"COME ON! THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE GOING TO-!"

There was an explosion inside the shelter and it expelled flames out the door. Fex shielded his face.

? later...

Fex opened his eyes.

"Is this really necessary?" He asked the hooded man.

"Yes." He responded. "Tell me... What was the insignia on the leos?"

"I... I... I don't know. I couldn't see."

"Oh, I think you know..."

"How do you know that?"

"Not yet... Not until you tell me everything..."

Fex propped himself up on his elbow. "DID A CLOAKED WOMAN TELL YOU I WAS COMING THIS WAY? TELL ME NOW, YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!"

"Fex..." Said the hooded man, calmly, his voice almost a whisper. Fex knew he knew something now, seeing as he had called him by name. "...Tell me what happened after the explosion..."

"Fine. But after that, you ARE going to tell me whatever the fuck I wanna' know..."

"...Agreed..."

? ago...

Fex woke up and picked himself up from under the thin veil of debris. He brushed himself off and noticed the fleeing crowd was gone. But then he realized that was wrong.

...They weren't gone. Their body parts were all over the place...

Fex heard an engine noise. He turned and saw a C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. already turning the corner. Fex hustled behind the building to his right into the alley.

He heard the C.A.T.E.R.P.I.L.L.E.R. come to a stop around the corner. He heard people get out and talk to each other. He was hoping the wouldn't come his way...

From another part of the alley, another towns person scurried towards him.

"GOD SAVE US!" He screamed, hysterically. "GOD, FUCKING SAVE US!" This man was gonna' get them killed. Fex ran past him down the alley.

A moment later, he looked back to witness the man enter the street. His leg's were chopped up in an invisible meat grinder...

Fex ran into the woods. He turned back to look upon the town he had abandoned. The military force was still massacring the civilians. Once their savior, he was now a traitor...

"Hold it right there..."

A man was holding a submachine gun to his head.

"It's not smart to pull a weapon on somebody you don't know..." Fex said.

"Why?"

Without thinking, Fex elbowed the man's submachine gun straight up, flipping, into the air. Then he got close and jerked the man's head violently to the left, snapping his neck. As he fell to the ground, Fex answered his question.

"...You don't know good they are at fighting back."

Fex grabbed the submachine gun as it fell back to earth. He checked the magazine. It had bullets in it.

"Mother... Where are you?"

He put the magazine back in. Then he headed off into the woods.

? later...

"That's it?" The cloaked man asked.

"That's it."

"Good."

"Now you tell me what I want to know."

"We shall see..."

"Who told you I was coming here?"

"I'll tell you one thing... It wasn't a cloaked woman..."

"Okay. How do you know me?"

"I'll let you in on that later. Next question."

"Do you know the cloaked woman?"

"Perhaps. You never know..."

"Why haven't you given me a single straight answer?"

"Because you don't need any..."

Fex shot up. "WHAT? WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHETHER I GET STRAIGHT ANSWERS OR NOT?"

The cloaked man stood up slowly and calmly. "Because your quest is futile. What are the chances of you finding this cloaked woman? Better yet, what are the chances it's your mother? We both know she died about a decade ago."

"Don't know. THINK! WE THINK SHE DIED! BUT MAYBE SHE DIDN'T! MAYBE SHE'S STILL ALIVE AND TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING!"

"It doesn't matter anyway. That's not the reason I came here..."

The cloaked man turned around. Underneath the hood, it had been Howie all along.

"I came here to take you back."

Been a while, but what do you think? I'm getting ready to start the final and third act. SO GET READY!


	18. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 17

The second part of the dark era is almost over! It's about to enter the third and final segment!... Of course, I would have no control to decide that for the other Gundams, since I don't own them...

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 17:

Revelation:

Late AC 192...

Fex turned off his computer and planted his face in his hands. He was screwed for sure. Rapter had his number. Fex knew he wanted him gone. And now he had a proof positive reason to do it. He would be court marshaled. He would be convicted of treason and proven guilty. He would then be executed...

...Fex wouldn't fight any of this...

No... He had to fight it. He was convinced that his job wasn't done yet. Kat was alive somewhere, suffering. He couldn't let that go on any longer. He needed to find her...

And he needed to find out if his mother was still alive. He would have to find the cloaked woman...

But how was he going to do it? Rapter was keeping him under constant surveillance now. Fex couldn't take a piss without his permission. He had his gun taken away from him. So he had no chance to kill the other, fully armed soldiers. If he could get his hands on some hardware, he could make a statement...

...A futile, lose-lose statement. A statement that assured a quicker death...

...But a statement, nonetheless...

"Hey, Fex..." Howie was at his door. "We have to talk..."

"Do you have Rapter's permission?"

"Yes."

Fex still couldn't tell about Howie...

Fex turned towards the table and pointed at the seat across from him.

"Sit."

Howie sat down. He sighed and then began.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I feel pretty screwed..."

"You are, really..."

"Thanks..." Fex said, sarcastically.

"Your in a pretty tight spot..."

"Yeah. I don't know what to do..."

Howie changed the subject. "You know, the Alliance is going to decide on the fate of the J.T.M.S. soon..."

"Really...?" Fex scoffed. "Please do me a favor. If they kill me before they vote on that, make sure that it isn't passed..."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I've got a hunch that there's something wrong with this unit. I think that it's views and goals may be different from what the Alliance wants."

"You think this is a unit secretly run by the Rebels?"

"No... I think there's a third party involved..." Fex paused for a long time. "I think they're about ready to show themselves."

"How do you figure there's a third party?"

"It's what happened with my dad... When he was assassinated, the funds for his organization were annexed by someone."

"Who? Why couldn't it have been the Rebels?"

"Because the Rebels would have spent the money on arms. Was there any noticeable arms increase with the Rebels afterward? No... And also, haven't you noticed that we've been in a constant state of war ever since that? Various military forces, fighting for power all over the world. Have you noticed that when a military power is fighting another military power, one of the sides will be losing men until they get to a certain point. The military forces will be small in number, and then, POOF!" He made a gesture with his hand's. "They just disappear. They weren't destroyed, there's never any sign of that. Where did they go? The Rebels don't have the weapons. So who has them?"

"Fex..." Howie sighed. "Have you ever contemplated that we had those weapons?"

"Yeah, but would we have any reason to hide them?"

Pause...

"Another thing I want you to do if they kill me..."

"What?

"Find Kat. Save her..."

"Don't worry..." Howie lit a cigarette and looked out the window. He removed the cigarette and a plume of smoke exited. He turned back towards Fex and slid a computer disk across the table. "Take a look at this..." Howie said. Then he stood up.

Fex picked up the disk and looked at it, confused. He looked up Howie, as if for some reassurance.

"Don't look at it right now." Howie answered as he turned and started walking for the door.

"Does Rapter...?"

"Yeah." Howie passed through the door and took another drag from his cigarette.

Meanwhile...

"Yes... Yes... Fex Anderson... I've heard the name mentioned before..."

"What are you watching?" Taylor asked.

"Interrogation videos..." Rapter answered.

"OW! GOD! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? WHAT MORE DO YOU FUCKING WANT TO KNOW?"

"Are you sure you don't wanna' see Tom off?"

"Yes..."

"KILL ME! YOU FUCKING SADISTIC BASTARDS!"

"Happy to oblige..."

The interrogator put a bullet through his victim's head.

Rapter sighed. "You know, I've watched maybe a hundred of these videos already and they all seem to end the same way. Tom's men, having survived the battle in Paris, interrogate their prisoners and then kill them. They were in a killing frenzy. They wanted to pay them back for all the losses they took, even though, technically, we won the battle. So now I've gotta' ask myself... Where's the morality hiding within all the killing? Where is the line between just killing someone and reason? And have I crossed over that line by wanting to kill Fex?"

"I don't know, Rapter..."Taylor answered shaking his head. "But you've got a trial to conduct tomorrow, Rapter. I don't think Fex even has a case, so I would to take a break for a while. Maybe get some rest..."

Rapter nodded. "Yeah, you're right..." He turned the tv off. "I've got a long day tomorrow..."

Later...

It was storming outside and thunder boomed. Fex turned on his computer and put in the program that Howie had given him. A whole lot of numbers popped up onscreen but it didn't look like anything he would be interested in. Then he realized it was two decryption codes. But the question was what were they for?

"Let's see what else we've got here..." Fex clicked on other bars. Nothing interesting. Then he typed in the first decryption code he had found. What popped up onscreen was the document containing the illegal transactions that Fex 'made'. What was the other one for, then?...

He typed it in...

His jaw dropped open in disbelief...

"I don't believe it... I had no idea..."

The next morning...

Rapter woke up. He had slept on the couch in the lobby. He had no reason for it, other than the fact that he had been tired and that the couch was the closest thing for him to lay down on...

As he sat up, he realized that somewhere on the base, soldiers were screaming and yelling. He immediately was curious as to why...

He looked out the window and jumped when he saw a Rebel chopper parked on the runway.

"OH, SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?" He picked up his radio. "TAYLOR? ARE YOU THERE? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"

Taylor answered. "I DON'T KNOW! I JUST WOKE UP AND THEY WERE HERE!"

Rapter saw soldiers loading something onto the helicopter.

"WHATEVER THE PARTY WAS, WE MUST HAVE MISSED IT! TAYLOR, MEET ME OUT THERE, WE'RE GOING TO CUT THEM OFF!"

"ROGER!"

Rapter whipped his Desert Eagle out and ran outside. He pointed the gun at one of the soldiers.

"RAPTER! STOP!"

The voice was familiar...

He lowered his weapon. The Rebels stopped and looked at him. Rapter heard someone coming up behind him. He turned...

Howie was there...

Rapter figured something in that moment...

Howie smirked. "Stupid. You were just to fucking stupid..."

Rapter felt a bullet hit his stomach. As he fell forward, he noticed the gun in Howie's hand...

He laid on the ground, shocked about what had just happened. Howie walked past his body.

"LOAD THE CHOPPER!" Howie shouted. "WE'RE LEAVING! WE HAVEN'T GOT ALL FUCKING DAY!"

He just laid there, listening to them load the chopper, not doing anything. Eventually, they finished and took off...

"RAPTER!" Taylor had reached him and propped his head up. "The medics are coming! Fex wasn't in his room! He must be the..."

"Yes..." Rapter quietly said, gurgling the blood in his mouth. "But you won't believe this... Howie was also a double agent..."

What do you think? This is one of the big plot points, so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me what you think!


	19. Gundam: The dark era: Chapter 18

This is it... The beginning of the third and final segment... Things will start to make sense from here... Unlike some things in the other Gundams, which I don't own.

Gundam:

The dark era:

Chapter 18:

The place where dreams mean nothing:

Fex awoke to a vibrating surface of some sort. Cold, hard... steel. He tried to move, but to no avail. His hand's were tied, plus he was in an enclosed space. He gave up and calmed down, laying his head down. Putting his head down, his chin touched something wet. Not drool... blood.

The door entrapping him flung open and hands grabbed his leg as well as his arm. Fex was heaved down onto the cold steel floor below as if he were nothing more than a corpse. The impact was shocking, to say the least. When he regained composure, he realized he was onboard a chopper.

"He ain't worth shit, by the look of him..." One of the Rebels commented. Fex heard him unsheathe a knife. He knelt down next to Fex. The Rebel cut a circle around Fex's right nipple. "I wonder why 'Black' wants to keep him alive..."

Fex lashed out and tried to bite the Rebel's hand. The Rebel was too quick, though. He used his reflex's not only to avoid getting bit, but to quickly stab Fex in the tongue. The quick pain, the warm gush of blood. Even when Fex closed his mouth, the blood still poured out the corner of his lips. The Rebel stood up and kicked Fex in the nose.

"My nose... My fucking nose..." Fex groaned.

"You bitching?" The Rebel asked. "ARE YOU FUCKING BITCHING OVER A FUCKING NOSE? LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! WE'RE GONNA' DO SOME REALLY FUCKING FREAKY SHIT TO YOU! AND ARE YOU BITCHING OVER A FUCKING, COCK-SUCKING NOSE?"

"ENOUGH!" The cabin door for the cockpit opened. "That's enough of your bullshit, you fucking moron..."

"Don't bite my head off for a fucking prisoner, 'Black'..."

Fex's vision wasn't all quite clear, but he could see two people in the cockpit doorway. They stepped out and closed the door.

"I'll bite your head off for whatever reason I choose. So shut your fucking mouth." 'Black' came closer. "So, this is Fex Anderson..."

"Yes, it is..." The other figure approached Fex. "How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?"

"I would have slept better with a partner..." Fex answered defiantly. "But then again, there was barely room for two in there..."

"Yes, I'm sorry we were unable to accommodate, but this a business trip anyway..." The figure came closer. At the same time, Fex was regaining his vision. The figure knelt next to Fex...

Fex regained his sight. The one in the back was General Ashton, or 'Black' as they had been calling him. The one next to him was Howie...

"You're fucking stupid..." Fex told him.

"ME? I'M FUCKIN' STUPID? NO! I'M THE SMARTER OF THE TWO OF US!"

"Explain..."

"I'm the one who set you up. I couldn't have anybody revealing my identity. But there were some cracks in the cover up, so I had to thick quickly. Shortly before we arrived at Paris, I found out that an Alliance intelligence officer had dug up an arms transaction I had made with 'Black' here. So I found this intelligence officer and had him killed. Actually, 'Black' was the one that killed him... It was a man by the name of Albert..."

"General Albert..." 'Black' mumbled. "...the bastard betrayed me..."

"Yes... I knew there was something wrong with him..." Howie said to 'Black'. "But still, I had to find someone to blame it on. But then... You went and did something stupid... Shortly after we killed general Albert, we went on a mission and you killed a comrade. Do you remember?"

"No... I DON'T WANT TO!..."

"I believe you pushed him out of the window..."

"NO! GOD-DAMMIT!"

"Hm. Interesting reaction, but, to continue, being squad captain had it's perks... In other words, I was able to transfer your bank account numbers over mine's to complete the cover up. I got your signature as well. But what made the deal even sweater was your history of mental instability... It's so bad that you couldn't even tell that you were being framed... YOU DIDN'T KNOW! YOU CAN'T EVEN TRUST YOUR OWN FUCKING MEMORY!"

"IT'S NOT TRUE! MY MEMORY IS FINE!"

"You have frequent bouts of depression... Perhaps the reason you joined the war is that there's the possibility that you may get killed..."

"NO! SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"Or maybe it's your fear of responsibility... We went way back Fex... The funds from your fathers organization were entrusted to you in his will... THEY WERE NEVER ANNEXED! I'll tell you what you did with them... When your father died, you had noone to take care of you... You and your two sisters... You were so scared of taking care of them that you ditched the both of them and went out to take care of yourself... Which you didn't do a very good job of. How old were you, six? Well, you did some things that six-year-olds shouldn't do..."

"Whatever you're going to say... I DIDN'T FUCKING DO IT!"

"Oh, yes you did... At six you were living at bar, bribing the barkeep with extra money to let you drink alcohol... At ten, you were a regular at the whore-house, and at 15, you were broke, so you joined the military to avoid facing up to you little baby sisters..."

"SHUT UP! I JOINED THE MILITARY FOR REVENGE!"

"No, you didn't." Fex shut up. He knew that Howie was right about his memory... For all he knew, Howie was telling the truth... "They're starving on the streets now. You know that, right, Fex? You failed them... They're going to die, so let that linger on your conscious. All the letters you've got from them were actually from me, generously keeping that fake little world that you had in your mind intact. I let you believe that they were home, alive, healthy, with a roof over their heads and well fed. You never reached anybody with your letters. Oh, and while we're on the subject here..." Howie got real close and whispered in Fex's ear. "Your mother isn't alive, either. Those were sent by me as well... I was giving you something to chase... Something to get you into more trouble... It was all a fun little game for me... As I watched you scamper about, I thought to myself, 'God! What a fucking moron! And it's wonderful! I can't stop laughing! He's a fucking moron and it's wonderful! He's a stupid rat that has clung onto a false hope that he knows not to be true! He just cannot consciously let go of it!'" Howie stood up. "You thought your desires were to chase angels. But, subconsciously, you wanted devils. And devils are what you got..." Howie turned towards to cockpit. "You will have your reunion with your dearly beloved soon..."

Fex perked up. "YOU MEAN KAT, HOWIE? TELL ME! HOWIE, TELL ME!"

'Black' and Howie closed the cockpit door.

"GOD-DAMMIT, HOWIE, TELL ME!"

Later...

Howie woke Fex up with his disgustingly cheerful. "We're heeeere..."

He thrown down on the cold steel once more. This time met immediately with kicks.

"GET UP AND MARCH, YOU FUCKING MAGGOT!"

Fex tried to muster the strength to stand, but one of the soldiers struck him in the back of the head with the butt of a gun, forcing him back down onto his knees. Blood forced it's way out of his nose.

"What's the matter? A pussy like you can't stand without any help?" Fex saw a Rebel coming towards him with a blowtorch. "If you don't stand, we'll light this under your ass and keep it there to keep your ass up..."

Howie spoke. "Okay, I've have enough of your bullshit, O' Neil." Howie pulled out one of his .45's and pointed it at Fex's head, pulling the hammer safety back. "Fex, move. Move or I blow your brain's out."

Fex sighed. "You know what? I don't give a shit about what other people want me to do."

"Fex, you heard me. Now..." His voice sounded very serious. "Don't make me kill you."

Fex sighed once more. Then he got up. "If only to see Kat one more time..."

Howie holstered his gun and Fex marched.

General Ashton met them in front of the base. He spread his arm's and, as if he were a preacher making a sermon, said. "WELCOME! THIS IS MY BASE AND YOU ARE ON HEAVEN'S ISLAND!"

Fex looked behind him. It didn't look anything like heaven... The land was barren and there was a large volcano that seemed as if it was going to erupt any minute...

More and more, Fex was convinced that whatever his fate was, it would be decided here.

"The place where dreams mean nothing..." Howie mumbled.

Okay, there was more I wanted to write, but I decided to let it be and let you all soak this in. So, what do you think? It's a lot of information... Did you understand it?


End file.
